The Third Donovan
by TearStainedAshes
Summary: Claudia and Joshua have a little sister. This is a story of how she fits into the Warehouse family.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Jinksy, H.G., Mrs. Frederic are alive…I'll come up with an outtake if you want to know how. Somewhat OOC, AU. If you have questions, comment, I'll do my best to answer them.**

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><p>"She's Crissi Donovan."<p>

"Okay, what about her?"

"She's fourteen years old."

"She's fourteen?"

"Yep, youngest this university's ever had."

"What do you know about her?"

"Hacked the University. Her file's a hard read. Little sister to Claudia and Joshua Donovan, parents died when she was five. Claudia works for the IRS, she's nineteen; Joshua works for CERN in Switzerland. Been in foster care since she was five. There were a billion pages of psych evaluations though; I wonder how much of her files true. She clearly doesn't like people."

The boys following me or 'going to class' talking about me were quiet for a second.

"Do you think she can hear us?"

"No she had her headphones in."

Yeah right you call my name, I hear it. I hear the whispers of all the damn people wondering how a fourteen year old has twenty credit hours, straight A's, minus speech class, that was failed – for me at least…B+.

"How many psych evaluations were there?"

Oh dear boy wouldn't you love to know of my many psych evaluations, and 'treatments' of electroshock therapy.

"Too many, I mean I'm twenty, and I've never even had one."

"Well if she's is the foster care system, surely they would keep tabs on her ability to adjust."

I inwardly scoffed at that. I was only in the system for two years, then they shipped me off to the same ward Claudia had been in. She was pissed when she learned that. Dr. Mitchner and her were 'good friends' so I had to 'be good' for my big sissy's 'friend'. That lasted until my first 'treatment'. According to Claudia, Mitchner was bronzed, whatever that meant. I don't know what she does, that's not my business. That's the difference between Claudia and me; she's nosy when curious, when I'm curious, I find out my own way instead of badgering for information.

"Is it even legal for her to live here and attend college?"

I sensed the other guy shrug; "Her file had a few odd names on it, Kozan, Frederic, Valda, Weisfelt, and then her sisters. I searched for the names and got nothing."

I walked in to my class, the boys still following; I was surprised when they took out notes and textbooks. I sat through my calculus class, iPod playing music in one ear, taking notes but not listening to the prof's voice, the math didn't seem complicated. When the class ended I plugged the other ear in, grabbed my notebook, threw it in my bag, and walked out.

As I was walking, I got tapped on the shoulder. I stopped walking but didn't turn around. The two guys who were talking about me moved to stand in front of me. They started talking; I read their lips until I pulled out one of my headphones.

"Hey, Crissi right?"

"We were wondering if you could help us this semester in Calc. We barely understood a word of what the prof said today."

I sighed, "It's only the second day."

"Exactly."

I rolled my eyes, "Look, I'm pretty sure there's some kid in your little group who has a brain. Just wants to fit in, so he's going to do whatever you ask, as to stay in said group and fit in. Have that pathetic person do your homework and tutor you. I have organic chem now." I started walking away.

"Wait! Please, we live on the same floor. Please?"

I glared up at the boys that literally towered over me, "Meet me in the study room at six tonight, I'll let you know then."

I headed down to organic chem. My head wouldn't stop spinning, I quickly sent Claudia a text saying that I needed to talk to her, I wasn't okay with people hacking into my file, she told me Mrs. Frederic (whoever she is) had it sealed. I got a text back saying she would come pick me up from my dorm at seven. Perfect. At six I would grill those kids for looking into my file. Organic chem passed in a blur…I honestly couldn't tell you, but somehow, I have seven pages of notes.

Oh, the reason my life is a shit storm – I see auras, spirits, supernatural stuff. Leena got a kick out of someone reading her aura. For someone who ran around telling people their auras were all over, hers was crazy out there. Artie had taken to asking me when Leena needed to relax; she told everyone else when they were off, Leena deserved it too. Claudia's makeshift family quickly became mine too, even if I didn't know what they were talking about 90% of the time.

I headed back to my dorm after organic chem, my music playing as usual. I opened my door and put my iPod on the speakers and looked over to my roommate's extremely messy side of the room. How someone could be so freaking messy, I didn't know. I put my backpack on my chair and pulled up my laptop to start on my online calc homework, it only took me forty-five minutes. It was 5:50 when I finished, so I pulled out my organic chem text since I was so zoned out.

I walked down to the study room at six; the two boys were sitting there with pizza, chips, soda, and their computers and books.

"Hey Crissi."

I looked at them slightly disgusted.

"Is this your natural studying environment?"

The two boys looked at each other, "Pretty much."

I rolled my eyes, "Before I decide to help you, I want to know how you got into my file. It's sealed, oh and I heard everything you said about me. But most of all I want to know why."

The boys looked at each other.

"Curiosity."

I glared at him, "You don't risk expulsion from university on just a curiosity."

The second one answered, "Seriously, just curiosity. An entire semester of wonder."

"That doesn't explain my records becoming unsealed."

Neither of them talked for a few minutes.

"I'm waiting."

"When I hacked in, it unsealed every record and file. I didn't know it was sealed."

I didn't believe that, Claudia's taught me a few things.

"That's bullshit."

"You're too young to swear like that," one reprimanded me.

"And you're in no position to reprimand me. Especially when you need my help. And I don't even know your name!"

"Well I'm Tyler," said the one that reprimanded me, "And he's Sam," the one that apparently did the hacking.

Tyler was a brown haired kid who was about 5'10"-11"; Sam was blonde and about 5'9".

"Okay."

"And we don't NEED your help," Sam said.

I smirked, "Great. Bye." I got off the table I was sitting on and turned to walk out.

"WAIT!" Tyler called.

I stopped but didn't turn around.

"He didn't mean it. We really do need your help."

"Then be honest with me. Why all the freaking digging!"

"Seriously we were just curious. You're uber young," Sam said.

"You're digging should've stopped when you realized my 'file's a hard read' my life's none of your fucking business. Curiosity is solved by asking, and ended when the questions are answered with none of your fucking business. Did you enjoy reading that I lost my family at five? That foster care is where I grew up, moving from family to family? 'Cause I'm a freak and no one wanted me? Glad you liked it."

I pulled out my phone to see that it was 6:50.

"I have to go my sister's picking me up for the night."

I walked out of the study room in somewhat of a state. My mind was going crazy. I wish I had Jinksy. Maybe Claudia was right when she asked if I was sure I wanted to live on campus, perhaps online courses would have been better, but I know online classes are a sucky comparison to a lecture hall. I walked into my dorm and grabbed my bag, stuck my laptop in it along with jeans, t-shirt, and sweatpants. Then, I threw my iPod in the side pocket with my cell, put my leather jacket on and left my dorm. Just as I walked out the doors, I saw Claudia pull up in her Chevy.

"Hey," I said getting in.

Claudia looked at me for a second, "You okay?"

I shrugged, "Can we go? I'll tell you on the way."

Claudia put her foot on the gas, "So what's going on?"

I sighed, "Someone hacked into the university and got into my file. They're in my calculus class, then they had the nerve to talk about it while following me into class, they sat right behind me! Then they asked for my help because they're so lost. Ugh, I'm scared Claud. They told me they were curious, but they risked getting expelled. You don't do that off a curiosity."

Claudia pulled up to a stop light and looked at me, "I'll ask, Artie or Mrs. F, they'll probably know how. Do you have any classes tomorrow?"

"Yeah, at eleven 'til five."

Claudia rolled her eyes, "My genius baby sister. What classes?"

"Calculus 'til 12:30, then orgo lab from 1 to 3, and orgo lecture from 3 to 5, but then it's Saturday and I can do my homework and relax."

We got to the B&B in record time.

"Who were the kids that did this?"

"Their names are Tyler and Sam, they apparently live on my floor."

I followed Claudia in and was greeted by the smell of Leena's cooking. Pete was sitting with Myka and H.G. monopolizing the remote.

"Hey guys."

"Hey Crissi. What are you doing here?" Pete asked.

I shrugged, "Long day, slightly emotional. I needed to talk to Claudia.

Myka looked at me, "What happened?"

"Someone hacked into my file at the university, because they were 'curious'. I don't like it. I get that I'm fourteen, but who else are they going to tell?"

Myka and H.G. both gave me a hug, "It'll be okay."

"Want them to meet the big bro Pete?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm pretty sure it would be Uncle Pete."

"I'm not old!" Pete yelled.

"Of course not Pete, but she's fourteen, you're old enough to be her father." H.G told him.

"I did not need that mental image, H.G." I told her.

The four of us were laughing when Leena called dinner. Leena had made my absolute favorites, I looked over at Claudia and she shrugged so I looked at Leena. Leena had apparently understood my confusion, "Call it intuition Crissi."

I sighed; I would never understand how people just knew. I was quietly eating, enjoying the dinner talk that school didn't allow. Something popped into my head.

"Claudia."

"What's up?"

"Something just popped into my head."

"Okay…?"

"Sam and Tyler were talking about all the psych evaluations in my file and wondered if my file was completely true. What if they start digging further?"

"That's not a part of you file." Another voice said.

I jumped slightly and turned around to see an African American woman standing there. I looked at Claudia, Leena and Myka. Claudia seemed stunned into silence. Leena looked at me, then at the woman.

"Crissi, this is Mrs. Frederic." Leena said.

I stayed quiet, that didn't help me at all.

"Mrs. F, what are you doing here?" Claudia asked.

"I was alerted today that young Ms. Donovan's file was unsealed."

I sighed, "Yeah, two kids who live on my floor."

Mrs. Frederic looked at Claudia, "Claudia, I need to speak with you. Now." Then she turned and walked out of the room.

Claudia glanced around the table, then got up and left the room. I picked at my plate continuing to glance at the door. From the tenseness of the rest of the room, everyone felt the same way. Claudia came back in ten minutes later.

"Crissi, I need to tell you something, about what we do."

Pete butted in, "Wait, so is Crissi your One?"

Claudia shook her head, "Mrs. F just said the Regents voted and Mr. Kozan approved since she's not nosy or curious, which I don't understand, and since Joshua knows, it's only 'fair'. And apparently Mrs. F wants to tell all three of us something once Crissi understands."

I shrugged, "Okay…?"

"Okay. Well, uhm, we all work at Warehouse 13."

I just stared at her for a second, "And that is…?"

Artie took over, "It's a secret warehouse where we place artifacts, so they can't hurt people."

"Artifacts?"

"Things from events in history, events create bad juju in the objects, they become dangerous, we find them, and put them, and put them in the warehouse." Myka said.

I took a second to think, I guess it made sense, things happen in the past, objects get bad juju. "It kind of makes sense, sort of…?" I told them.

Jinksy laughed as he walked into the room, "At least you're being told, I got thrown in."

I rolled my eyes, "If you think about it, it makes sense. Huge events, huge emotions, bad juju."

"Well that was easy," Pete said.

I rolled my eyes, "You forget, girl who sees dead people. Bad juju's not a far stretch."

Pete nodded, "Right…forgot about that."

"Only because unlike you, I don't run around telling everyone everything."

Claudia looked at me, "So are you okay with everything?"

I nodded, "Yeah, it's whatever. It sounds pretty sweet. Is it fun?"

"It's pretty fun I guess. If you consider inventory fun..."

"Artie makes you do inventory? Dude!" I looked t Artie, "Do you have any idea how fabulous she is?"

Claudia laughed, "I'm glad someone agrees with me!"

"Hey she also happens to be my partner!" Jinksy retorted.

The rest of dinner went quickly, Pete started a small food fight, which Myka took part in; I was going to stay clear, until Pete threw a green bean at me. I glared at him and flung a spoon of mashed potatoes, which hit him on the forehead. Leena glared at Pete, getting up and yelling, "You are cleaning this up!" and left the room.

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><p><strong>AN 2: My friend is actually writing this but doesn't take criticism well. So she's asked me to post this and see how it goes. "I'll let you deal with criticism," she says. Ha. She's had some bad, bitchy reviews in the past and so now I get to deal with it. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy. Disclaimer, I don't own these characters (except for Crissi), I just take them out to play once in a while.**

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><p>After dinner, Myka, H.G., and Claudia all told me stories of their adventures of retrieving artifacts.<p>

"And then there was Man Ray's Camera, which almost killed Myka." Claudia said.

"Killed? It's a camera. How?"

Myka snorted. "Not just a camera. A guy took my picture and double exposed it over someone else giving them so many more years of youth. It wasn't particularly fun, but the camera's now safe and sound in the Warehouse. Speaking of deadly artifacts, Claudia, Godfrid's Spoon?"

"So what, I almost died from a Viking Prince's giant spoon," Claudia shrugged.

I looked at my big sister. "Now _this_ I want to hear."

Myka laughed. "A wrestling team had people getting really strong. An energy drink company was using the spoon to test the drink. Unfortunately, after getting all muscle-y, they combusted. Long story short, Claudia got shoved into a vat of the drink, H.G. made something that counteracted the amino acids and luckily, she didn't combust."

"Obviously, and I would be pretty pissed if she had," I said slapping Claudia on the arm. "No dying on me!"

Claudia pulled me into a hug. "I don't plan on it." She looked down at me. "Have I ever told you how glad I am that you found me?"

I nodded and hugged her back, "I'm just glad you believed me, accepted me. I don't know what I would've done if…"

Claudia hugged me tighter, and Myka and H.G. joined in. Pete finally walked in having finished cleaning up after dinner.

"Did I hear stories of almost dying?"

I laughed. "Yeah, I've heard Claud's and Myka's."

Pete took the opportunity to launch into an "epic" story of a telegraph that almost killed him. Eventually everyone, including myself, all went upstairs and went to bed.

Usually I had no problem falling asleep at the B&B, however, tonight…I just couldn't. Finally around 3 a.m., I went downstairs, bored of trying and failing to fall asleep. I opened the front door and sat down on one of the chairs on the deck. I pulled my knees up to my chest, laying my head on my knees, and sighed. My mind started flashing back to a simpler time, when life made sense. It's not easy to remember much from when I was younger, most people don't remember anything from being a toddler, but I do remember Mom and Dad. Even if it was because I did see them occasionally, shared a few words with them here and there. They're the reason I found Claudia and Joshua. My mind was going back to the times I would see them. I think that they moved on to wherever they go after they were sure the three of us were together. Especially considering I haven't seen them since I found Claudia.

I had been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't noticed H.G. come out until she had kneeled down right in front of me.

"Are you alright, Crissi?" she asked quietly looking into my eyes.

"Where do you think they go?"

H.G. looked confused. "They who?"

"People, spirits, ghosts. Where do you think they go when they move on?"

H.G. sighed. "I don't know. Do you want to tell me what brought this on?"

I shrugged. "I was just thinking how I used to see Mom and Dad, a lot. But when I found Claudia…I haven't seen them since. Where do you think they went?"

"I don't know Crissi. Perhaps knowing you and your siblings were safe was enough to allow them to move on."

I fiddled with my lip ring that I did myself at the young age of ten. "I miss them. Like seeing them, even if it was just their spirits. It made me feel like my reality didn't exist, that it had never happened. I felt safe. And Claudia and everyone here makes me feel the same, but today, knowing that someone has a clue about me, I feel like my world's been torn down around me."

H.G. pulled me into a hug. "We won't let that happen."

I sighed. "I wish I didn't have class tomorrow."

"What do you have tomorrow?"

"Calculus, Chem. lab and lecture."

"Are you going to come home for the weekend?"

I shrugged. "If someone will come pick me up at 5."

H.G. smiled. "I'm sure someone can do that. Pete will probably volunteer to do so."

I rolled my eyes. "Someone better be with him. He's not allowed to tesla anyone. No matter how freaked I am."

H.G. smiled. "I'm sure Myka can keep him on a short leash."

I nodded. "Thanks H.G."

"Anytime darling. Let's go back inside."

H.G. led me inside up to my room, and even tucked me in.

"You're treating me like a child, H.G.," I told her.

She looked at me. "You are a child Crissi." She knelt down by my bed. "I know you're used to looking after yourself, you grew up a lot faster than someone should have to, and been through more than what most people could ever imagine. You are still a child though, Crissi, which is why everyone wanted to be sure about you going to university."

I rolled my eyes. "I would be so bored anywhere else, though."

H.G. smiled at me. "I know the feeling. Okay, sleep time, goodnight Crissi."

"Night H.G."

Sleep definitely came easier after talking to H.G. She had always been a form of a surrogate mother to me. Myka and Leena were like older sisters even though Leena obviously had a maternal streak. Then Pete and Jinksy were the surrogate brothers, since Joshua's at CERN. And Artie of course, the ever over-bearing father figure.

At 8:30 my phone's alarm went off. I grabbed my phone, shut off the alarm, and stared at the ceiling. After about five minutes, I rolled out of bed and pulled out the clothes I'd packed. I took a quick shower and got dressed. I decided to let my hair air-dry and did my eyeliner. I left my room ready for the day at 9:05.

I walked out of my room to smell the aroma of Leena's French toast, which made my speed increase. Pete had a habit of eating them all and I wanted to get there before he had the chance. I walked in to see Pete with a stack of them as if they were pancakes.

Leena pulled up a chair and brought a plate over to me. "I saved you a plate before Pete could eat them all."

"Thanks Leena."

I took a few bites, which were little slices of heaven.

"Who's going to take me back to SDU?" I asked.

"I need to head that way, I'll take you, "Artie said.

I nodded. "Okay and will someone pick me up?"

Claudia smirked. "You need to get your license."

"It's not my fault I'm fourteen."

"I'll pick you up," Pete said with a mischievous look on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "The tesla stays in the car, Pete!"

"I just want to know who's giving you problems," Pete argued.

"Myka! Control your partner!"

Myka rolled her eyes. "We'll pick you up on the way back, and I'll make sure the tesla stays behind. What time?"

"I get out of lecture at 5, so how about 6?"

Myka smiled. "We'll be there."

"Thanks Myka."

After breakfast I went upstairs and grabbed my bag. Artie was giving Claudia and Jinksy folders and talking to them. I went out to Artie's car and waited.

He came out ten minutes later. "Ready?"

I nodded and got in the car. 45 minutes in the car, with Artie. Joy.

After about ten minutes, Artie asked, "How's school going?"

I shrugged, "I'm adjusting."

"Good, good. Just wondering because school and homework's a relatively new concept."

"I'm fine."

Thank you Artie, for reminding me of my lack of social experiences, and school. I never went to school. The only school I remember is pre-school, maybe kindergarten. However, at the institution, they IQ tested me, a lot, last score I remember was 182.

I sighed, I wish I could have been normal, but that would be too much to ask of the world. Artie pulled over to the side of the road and looked at me.

"How are you really?"

"Does Claudia allow you to give her the third degree?"

"You are not Claudia."

"You would be correct. I'm just the annoying little sister. The crazy genius that doesn't know what to do with the things she knows, oh and sees dead people."

"You are not crazy."

I rolled my eyes. "Tell that to the good Dr. Mitchner. 'Your mind has created the delusion of seeing your parents, so you could cope with the loss.' 'Time for your treatment Crissi, you'll feel better. Your delusions with go away after.' Yeah Artie, I'm totally sane."

"You _are_ totally sane, Crissi."

"I didn't even know Claudia was there before I was talking and the name came up and she flipped, yelling about how she was told I died with our parents, but I was in the same damn building," I shook my head. "Maybe it would've been better if I had."

Artie shook his head. "Never say that, Crissi!" He pulled back on the road. "Your life is valuable, Crissi."

"Finding Claudia seemed to just disrupt this family she made for herself."

"She needs and loves you just as much, more actually. Crissi, you don't see how much of an effect you've had on Claudia, on all of us. The awkward family we've all created needs you. I don't ever want to hear you say that again. Understand?"

I sighed and nodded, and the car was quiet for a while.

"Did you even consider high school, if anything just for the experience?"

I shook my head. "No, Artie, seriously? I'm pretty sure I would be so bored, not to mention, I'm not exactly social."

"I think you should consider it. Univille has a high school. You could transfer."

I snorted. "Hi I'm Crissi, I just transferred here from SDU."

Artie laughed. "Not like that."

"Honestly Artie, I have no clue what I'm doing."

"You're only 14, you have time. You're not supposed to know yet."

I sighed. I guess that's my answer for now and I'll just have to be bored until I figure it out.

The rest of the drive went by silently and Artie dropped me off outside my class's building with five minutes to spare. I walked up the stairs and into my class and took my seat at the front. The prof gave assigned seats and felt the "young one" should be in front. I pulled out my iPod and notebook preparing for another day of boring derivatives.

I was immersed in the music when a hand waved in front of my face; I looked up to see Sam and Tyler. I rolled my eye and took out an earphone. "Yes?"

"Hey Crissi, you never said yes or no last night. So…will you help us?"

I sighed, it would mean being semi-social, and I'm rarely actually in the dorm, but they would have to work around me.

I nodded. "Fine, I'll help you."

"Great, want to work tonight?"

"Can't, I go home on the weekends."

Sam blurted, "What home?"

I glared at him. "Are you sure you want my help?" I looked at Tyler, "Your friend's not exactly on my list of likable people."

Tyler looked at Sam. "Dude, don't insult the kid who's going to help us."

"Don't call me a kid."

Tyler held his hands up in defense, "Okay. So when can you help us?"

I thought over my schedule. "Write down your schedules and I'll give you a time I'm free."

They nodded and sat down.

Class seemed to last forever, at some point I started just writing the problem and answer, no work. I could see the answer in the problems. Eventually calculus finally ended, I slid my notebook in my bag and slid my jacket on taking my time. Sam and Tyler slipped me their schedules and headed out.

As I got up the prof stopped me, "Ms. Donovan, are you okay?"

I stared at him.

"Because you seem a bit out of it, I saw your notes. Is calculus a bit too far ahead for you?"

"I'm fine, it's simple really."

"Would you mind doing a problem for me? I just want to be sure you're understanding."

I nodded and he put a problem up on the board.

"Take the derivative by definition."

I quickly wrote out the definition and started cancelling out all the **Δ**x's and other variables until I had the derivative.

I put the marker down and walked out of the room and made my way over to the next building over for orgo lab.

Orgo lab went by quickly and I was done with everything, including my report, an hour early. I took that extra hour to just sit and think. I was sitting in a chair in the hall when I saw a man leave an office. When he turned to walk away I saw his face, and instantly felt like I was going to die. It was Dr. Mitchner. He made eye contact with me, paused for a second, and continued to walk passed me. After I saw him leave the building, I pulled my knees up to my chest and tried to hold in the tears. I sat like that until three, trying to think of what to do. Claudia would freak the frak out, but I knew better than to think this was something I could handle alone. I knew Leena would call me on it the moment I walked in.

I sighed; willing it to be six so Pete and Myka would be here. My attention was so not on my orgo lecture once again. By the end of lecture I'm pretty sure I was visibly shaking. I grabbed my stuff and practically ran to my dorm, up the three flights of stairs to my room. I opened the door, locking it behind me, put my bag on the floor and crawled into my bed and cried. I wasn't sure how long I cried until I heard a knock on the door. I sniffled and wiped my face walking to the door to reveal Pete and Myka.

Myka took one look at me, "What happened?"

"Did those boys hurt you?" Pete asked.

I shook my head and let them in. I grabbed my laundry bag and my messenger bag. I walked out to the main room where Pete and Myka were.

"Crissi, what happened?" Myka asked.

I looked between her and Pete.

"I saw Dr. Mitchner. He was walking out of an office when I was waiting for my last class to start."

"What? That's not possible." Pete said.

"It was him. He made eye contact with me, paused, and walked on. He recognized me!" The tears started again.

Pete came over to me. "It's going to be alright, Crissi. We'll figure out what's going on."

I couldn't stop crying again and Pete caught me when I started to collapse. I saw Myka grab my stuff and lock the door as Pete literally carried me out.

"Hey! What are you doing to her?" I heard Tyler call as Pete walked past what I assumed was his and Sam's room.

Pete continued to walk until Tyler and Sam appeared in front of us.

"What do you want?" Pete asked.

"What are you doing with her?" Sam asked.

Myka answered, "We're taking her home."

"Who are you?" Tyler asked.

"Who are _you?_" Pete retorted.

"Tyler, this is Sam," Tyler said.

"So you're the kid that hacked her file."

There was no response, Pete walked around them.

"Hey, you never said who the hell you were!"

Pete turned around. "That's the beauty of it. I don't have to. Bye-bye."

Pete walked and took me down to the car where Myka had it all warmed up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry for the long wait, but as I'm technically not the one writing this I have to wait in anticipation as long as everyone else. I'm just the mere editor, but I enjoy reading this despite. Can't wait for the next chapter!**

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><p>"Do you want shotgun?" Pete asked.<p>

I shrugged, "I don't care."

Pete opened the door and sat me in the front seat; I could feel that Myka'd turned on the heated seats.

Myka moved my hair out of my face and made me look at her. "We'll figure this out. It'll be okay, and if you don't want to come back, you don't have to."

I nodded and pulled my knees up to my chest as Myka started the car. The drive back to Leena's was quiet, Pete attempted to rub my back and Myka had a hand on my arm, which was wrapped around my knees. At some point I had fallen asleep on the ride. I felt the car stop and someone unclicking my seat belt.

"Pete, I'll get her stuff, you take her," Myka's voice rang in my ear quietly.

My door opened and I instantly felt the cold, wintery air.

Pete picked me up and I heard him whisper, "Let's get you to bed."

Claudia came up to Pete and me as soon as we got in the door and she looked really worried.

"Are you okay?"

I shook my head. I didn't know what Myka told her.

"I'm going to take her upstairs," Pete told her. "She's tired."

Claudia was right behind Pete and was hugging me the moment Pete laid me in my bed.

"Crissi? What happened? All Myka said was that you were upset and tired," Claudia said.

"I'll leave you guys to talk," Pete said.

"Crissi, talk to me. What happened?"

"I-I s-sa-saw Dr. M-Mitchner today. I was in the hall waiting because I got out of lab early. H-he made eye contact. H-he kn-knows I'm going there." I started crying again. Claudia hugged me tighter, but I could feel her shaking too. Neither of us were ever going to be completely okay after him.

"A-are you one hundred p-percent sure?"

I nodded and Claudia started tearing up too. "I don't understand. Mrs. F said he was bronzed."

I looked at Claudia. "What does that even mean?"

"It's a Warehouse thing."

We sat in silence, tears running down our faces. I felt Claudia move and tuck me under the covers and leave. Eventually I fell asleep, the emotional exhaustion becoming too much.

_Dream: "Crissi, do you know what day it is?" _

_I shook my head; I didn't have a calendar in my room. _

"_Today's April 24__th__."_

"_It's my birthday?" I asked._

_Dr. Mitchner nodded, "Yes today is your twelfth birthday."_

_Then a nurse entered the room and they started talking about treatments and more medicines. When I whimpered—treatments scared me—they left the room. I pulled my knees up to my chest. I looked over to the other chair, there sat my only friend in the world, a boy named Sean, he was 14, but he had found a way to kill himself while here in the crazy shack. I just watched him for a second and then asked:_

"_Why?"_

"_Why what?" Sean asked._

"_Why did you do it?"_

"_I couldn't stay there, Crissi. It was hell. I'm sorry."_

"_But you left me. I'm all alone now. No one believes me anymore."_

"_That's the only reason I could allow myself to do it. I knew you would still see me. I'm not leaving you."_

_I was about to respond when Dr. Mitchner spoke, "Crissi, who are you talking to?"_

_I froze. "No one."_

"_Crissi, you can't lie to me. Your delusions have returned. It's time for your treatment, thankfully."_

_I tried sinking into my chair even more as the men in white coats dragged me to the procedure room. One of them told me to put on the hospital gown thingy, which was weird, but I knew better than to attempt to defy them. So I changed quickly. I was then forced onto the table and secured. For the next god only knows how many hours, I had my 'treatment' of shock therapy. No matter how much I screamed and fought it never stopped. _

"_You'll feel better after, like always." Dr. Mitchner said over my screams. _

_When it was finally over, the Dr. told the nurse to 'put me under'. I didn't understand, I felt a pinch from a needle and quickly fell asleep. I was jerked awake to the feeling of burning pain inside me. I opened my eyes to see Dr. Mitchner on top of me. I started screaming and trying to fight. _

_End Dream._

"Crissi! Crissi? Wake up, darling, come on, open your eyes!" I heard H.G. yelling.

I quickly opened my eyes and sat up. I looked around realizing it was just a dream and started crying even harder.

H.G. hugged me and I clung to her sobbing.

"Shh, darling it's all right, you're awake now."

"No! It's not all right. It felt so real. That was the worst nightmare I've ever had!"

H.G. moved my hair out of my face, making me look at her. "Do you want to tell me about it?"

I sighed, still trying to control my tears and crying. I wanted to tell someone, but I had never and would never tell Claudia of that day.

"You have to promise not to tell Claudia."

"I promise I will not tell her, unless I feel she deserves to know."

I sighed. I knew that's what she would say. I accepted her response and began recounting the nightmare that was my twelfth birthday. I surprised myself when I finally found myself unable to cry anymore. I still felt like crying but I just couldn't. When I finished telling H.G. she just held me, she really did give the best hugs. It was silent and my bedroom door creaked a little as it was opened.

Claudia walked in with tears rolling down her face. "Tell me I did not just hear that. Please."

I looked at my big sister. "I didn't want you to know. I'm sorry."

Claudia sat down on my bed and I buried myself in her arms.

"Are you mad at me?"

Claudia sniffled. "No, it's probably smart that I didn't know. I talked to Artie, he said he'll talk to Mrs. Frederic."

"At least it's the weekend," H.G. said softly, rubbing my back gently.

I eventually found myself sandwiched between H.G. and Claudia. I felt myself calming down again.

"My babies," I heard someone say.

I looked at the foot of my bed and saw my mom.

"Mommy?" I asked, which caused Claudia to look at me.

"Crissi?"

I looked at her. "I see mom."

Our mom walked to Claudia's side. "I wish she could see me too."

I nodded. "Me too."

Claudia looked at me. "What'd she say?"

"She wishes you could see her too."

Claudia nodded. "Me too."

"Crissi, I need you to tell Artie, to tell Mrs. Frederic that it's okay to tell all three of you."

"You know Mrs. Frederic?" I asked.

"Mom knew Mrs. Frederic?" Claudia asked.

I shrugged. "That's what she's saying."

Mom sighed. "Irene will explain it. I'm sorry baby."

"Where did you go?"

"Baby, I never left. We're always watching. Tell Helena thank you for doing what I can't."

"What do you mean, what you can't?"

"I wish I could hug you, wipe your tears, and tell you it will be okay. I'm thankful that Helena can though."

I nodded. "Okay."

Mom leaned forward and 'kissed' my forehead, then did the same to Claudia who spazzed.

"What was that?"

"Mom kissed your forehead."

"Oh."

Mom looked at me. "Daddy and I are always watching." Then she left.

I sighed. "She's gone."

"What'd she say?" Claudia asked.

"She said that she and dad are always watching." Then I looked at H.G., "She also said thank you to you."

"For what?" H.G. asked confused.

"She said for doing what she can't."

H.G. looked at me.

"She said she wised she could hug us and tell us it would all be okay. She said thank you for just being there."

H.G. smiled softly. "She doesn't have to thank me."

I sighed. I didn't know what to do. I was tired, but I really didn't want to risk seeing that again. Unfortunately, against my wishes, I fell asleep. I woke up, out of it, I was alone and the sun was up. I grabbed my phone it was 10 o'clock. I sighed and rolled out of bed, realizing that I was still in my clothes from yesterday. I went to my dresser pulling out a pair of black sweats and a purple tank top. I changed and pulled on one of my gray zip up hoodies and went downstairs to see what everyone was up to.

Pete was first to see me. "Hey Crissi, how ya feeling?"

I shrugged and walked into the dining room. "I've been better."

I sat down in my chair and stared at the plate in front of me. Pete took it upon himself to fill it, lots of bacon, some fruit, eggs, and a cinnamon roll, which Pete took a cherry out of the fruit and put it on top of the cinnamon roll. I gave him a small smile and tiny laugh. "Thanks Pete."

Artie walked in the front door of the B&B and joined everyone else in their concerned, sympathetic looks at me. Then I remembered what mom had told me.

"Artie?"

"Yeah?"

"Uhm, mom told me to tell you to tell Mrs. Frederic that it's okay to tell us, all three of us."

Artie glanced at Claudia, then back at me surprised. "T-tell you what?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, all she said was 'Irene will explain'."

Artie was always firm in the belief that ghosts didn't exist, and I got great pleasure in proving him wrong many times over.

"O-okay. I'll…pass that message on," he stammered.

I nodded and picked at my fruit. It was completely silent. I looked around to see everyone staring at me.

"Yeesss…?" I asked.

Everybody's eyes moved fast off of me to anywhere else in the room. Eventually conversation sort of picked up.

"So Crissi. Tyler and Sam seemed pretty protective," Pete said.

I looked at him like he was insane. "And they're like five plus years older than me. They're just looking out for their calculus grade; I told them I would help them. But I don't know if I'm going back there."

"You can do whatever you want," Artie said.

I nodded. "I know and," I sighed, "what's high school like?"

Pete got giddy. "High school's great! Friends, sports, girls-"

"Pete," Myka cut him off. "Not everyone experienced high school like you did. Maybe we can go to the school, shadow someone for a day to see if you like it."

I sighed. "It sounds like a good idea."

"I will call the school on Monday," Artie said.

"Won't they want to see like school records?"

Artie shrugged. "We can work it out. I'll add it to the list of things to speak with Mrs. Frederic about."

I nodded. "So…what are we doing today?"

Pete smiled. "Movies! All day movie marathon!"

None of us objected at all. Pete and Claudia quickly had stacked every movie possible for the day. We started off with the Underworld series, per my request.

"No Pete, you have to start with _Rise of the Lycans_," I said.

"That's the third one."

"Yeah, but it's the prequel to the first two!"

"Pete shut up and start the movie," Claudia said tossing _Rise of the Lycans_ at him.

Myka and H.G. walked in with two bowls of popcorn with Artie and Leena following.

"What are we starting with?" Myka asked sitting on the couch next to H.G. who had given me the bowl of popcorn for Pete, Claudia, and me who were sitting on the floor.

"Underworld," I told her as Pete pressed play.

The day passed quickly and was extremely enjoyable. We were half way through Independence Day when the doorbell rang. Pete, who had been making a s'more in the microwave called, "I got it."

We heard the door open and Pete say hi, then dead silence. A few moments later we heard someone say, "Hi Pete."

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><p><strong>As always, please leave positive comments and if you have any questions I'll pass them on to the author and she will answer them as best she can. Enjoy the semi cliff-hanger!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Enjoy the latest installment!**

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><p>When we heard the voice, I heard Claudia mutter, "That's Kelly's voice." Then look at Artie and Myka.<p>

Myka, Claudia and H.G. ran to the doorway to spy on Pete.

"Kelly, wh-what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't stay away Pete."

My curiosity finally got the best of me, and I joined my sister, Myka, and H.G.

Pete was hugging some woman who I could tell was crying, "I love you Pete."

Pete kissed her head and replied, "I love you too." It was the most serious moment I've ever seen where Pete was involved.

Claudia couldn't keep quiet anymore, especially since she was practically jumping around, "Aww!"

Pete turned around to see all of us; he had that stupid grin on his face that made him look like a dork. His aura was just freaking glowing and I couldn't help but giggle quietly.

"Hey guys, look who came back!" Pete said.

I just watched as everyone came out and said hi.

"Crissi, come here." Pete called to me, I walked over to the rest of the group, "Kelly this is the newest addition to our quirky family, Claudia's little sister, Crissi. Crissi, this is Kelly." Pete said making introductions.

"Hi," I said quietly, "nice to meet you."

Kelly smiled, "You too. I didn't know you had a sister Claudia."

Claudia sighed, "Yeah, it's a long story, someday we'll tell you the whole thing."

The sounds of guns and yelling from the movie brought everyone from the happy moment. Pete looked between Kelly and the "family" room a few times.

Kelly laughed, "We'll talk later." Pete grabbed her hand and we all followed back to the movie. Pete was sitting on the floor with Kelly on his lap with the happiest look on his face.

"So do you want to know what I really do now?" Pete asked as the credits rolled.

Kelly smiled, "How complicated is my life about to get if you do?"

"It's not that complicated." Pete told her.

Unfortunately, Claudia laughed, Myka snorted, and H.G. gave her "that's bullshit" look.

Pete looked at them, "Not helping guys!"

"Sorry Pete. Look Kelly, what we do isn't complicated, at least our job description isn't, but actually doing it…that's the complicated part." Myka told her.

"It's a lot of fun though." Claudia added in.

Everyone was smiling, Kelly looked between all of us. When she made eye contact with me I shrugged, "You'll have to roll with the punches. It's not bad."

Kelly looked at Pete and nodded, which caused Pete to get all mushy and hug her.

"It's easier to show than to tell." Pete looked at Artie, "We're going to the warehouse."

Artie shook his head, "Oh no you don't. Tomorrow."

Pete gave Artie his pouty face, "Oh come on Artie! I won't blow it up."

Artie shook his head, "No we'll all go tomorrow, Claudia's been nagging me to let Crissi go."

I looked at Claudia and shook my head.

"What's the next movie?" Jinksy asked walking into the room.

"Jinksy where have you been all day?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Had something I had to do. How're you doing?" Jinksy sat down in between Claudia and me.

I shrugged, "Better-ish."

"Good. Now what next?"

Claudia got up and switched the movies, "Terminator."

I only remember the first twenty minutes of the movie.

"I'll take her up." I heard Jinksy whisper somewhere in the back of my mind. Then I felt myself being picked up. Jinksy carried me upstairs and tucked me in. "Night Crissi."

"Jinksy?" I asked quietly.

He sat down on my bed, "Yeah?"

I looked at him; his aura was all depressing and sad, "What's wrong? Where were you?"

"I – just had to spend today with my family, don't worry."

I nodded and was going to drop it but something else in his aura wouldn't let me.

He was grieving.

"Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"You're grieving."

Jinksy sighed, "Forgot about that."

I gave him a small smile, "Sorry. Everyone does. What happened?"

"It's – the anniversary of the death of my sister, memorial service sort of thing."

I nodded, "I'm sorry."

Jinksy shrugged, "I miss her."

"I'm sure she misses you too, but any loving sibling wouldn't want you to wallow in your misery."

Jinksy smiled, "How do you do that?"

"What?"

"Know what to say?"

I rolled my eyes, "Spent a lot of time talking to ghosts, Jinksy. That's what the majority of them say. I did met one and he said that he wanted his parents to never forget the pain…he wasn't completely all right in the head." I shook my head, he was a weird one, "but it'll be okay Jinksy."

"Thanks Crissi."

I smiled, "I'll let you know if I see her around."

Jinksy nodded, "Goodnight Crissi."

"Night Jinksy."

After a few minutes of lying in bed, my mind decided that I wasn't sleeping. Sighing I got up and walked over to my window, even though it was dark out the moonlight reflecting off the snow made a faint glow. For the first time since I found Claudia, I felt lonely. I really never did have friends. I mean besides my foster siblings, but I was never kept in a family for very long. Maybe high school was a good idea, find a way to start fresh and not let the past get to me.

"So we're the same age now."

I smiled and turned around; Sean was sitting at my desk.

"Yeah, I guess we are. What have you been doing?"

Sean shrugged, "Nothing. Watching my brother grow up."

"Timmy right?"

"Yeah, there's that amazing mind."

"How old is he now?"

Sean smiled, "He's eight. He's getting so big."

"I can imagine. Still think it was worth it?"

Sean sighed, "When I look at the world now, and Tim and you, no; but when I think about where I was and that bastard doctor, yes. It was totally worth it."

I shook my head, "No it wasn't. Your brother doesn't have you anymore, Sean. I got out, you could have gotten out too."

Sean walked over to me, "They were going to suggest my parents allow them to up my treatments and meds, I would have been so doped up that I wouldn't be capable of functioning."

"Suggest your parents allow them? They needed parental consent?"

"Yeah. You were a ward of the state, I don't think permission was needed for you."

I nodded, "Yeah I guess. I still don't think it was worth it."

"You had a place and a family to go to."

I shook my head, "Not at first I didn't. When I first found Claudia, she slapped me, called me a bitch and said that it wasn't cool to say I was her dead little sister! It took five hours to get her to listen to me and a week for her to believe it."

"I'm sorry Crissi."

I shrugged, "Eh, I have her and Joshua now, to them I'm basically back from the dead. I freaking have a tombstone next to my parents, but guess what Sean, you can't do that for your brother!"

"I know, but I'm still watching him. He'll be okay."

I shrugged, "Maybe, but we'll never agree on this."

"I know, and you little missy need to go to bed."

"We're the same age!"

"You'll always be younger to me."

I stuck my tongue out at him as he left. It was good to see Sean. I haven't seen him in about six months. I walked over to my bag and pulled out my laptop, sitting up in bed I started watching Battlestar Galactica, from the first season.

I'm not quite sure when I fell asleep, but Claudia came and woke me up nice and early all giddy and excited.

"There's so many awesome things. You'll love it."

I sighed, "Claud, calm down. Let me get changed and I'll be downstairs soon."

I walked to my dresser and pulled out a pair of black and red plaid skinny jeans, one of my Phoenix band tees and pulled on my black Roxy hoodie, and grabbed two socks; one green and white plaid and another black with neon peace signs. My socks will never match it irritates me. I quickly did my eyeliner and walked downstairs. Pete and Claudia were vibrating in their seats.

"Finally! Hurry up and eat so we can go!" Claudia said.

I shook my head, "I'm not hungry." Leena sighed getting up and going into the kitchen, she came back and handed me a Clif bar, I rolled my eyes, "Thanks Leena."

"You're welcome."

Claudia and Pete both got up and dragged Kelly and me to the SUV.

"What about Jinksy, H.G. and Myka?" I asked.

Claudia shrugged, "They got Steve's Prius."

I nodded as Pete quickly started the car and swung out of Leena's like a bat out of hell.

"So what is this warehouse?" Kelly asked.

Claudia and Pete shared a look, "You'll see. It's pretty sweet." Claudia said. Which of course did nothing for Kelly.

"Pete."

"Kelly do you trust me?"

She sighed, "Yes."

"Then please just let me show you, okay?"

"Okay."

Pete did a little happy dance then kissed the back of her hand that he was holding. We drove for a few more minutes through the badlands until we came to a huge building.

Claudia looked at me with the biggest smile on her face that I've ever seen. "Welcome to the Warehouse! Let's go!"

I quickly followed Claudia out of the car as she used a remote to open the door, Pete and Kelly following behind.

"So this is the umbilicus," Claudia said as we walked through a white hallway.

"Or the bomb hall, as I like to call it." Pete added.

I followed a super excited Claudia through the hall and to another door with an eye scanner. "And this is Artie's office." Claudia said as the door opened.

It was amazing; it had a cozy feeling to it. Artie came down the spiral staircase. "You're here. Good." Then he looked at Claudia, "Did you show them yet?"

Claudia shook her head, "Everyone knows the joy you get from it."

Artie gave a rare smile, "Follow me." He led us out onto a landing, "Welcome to Warehouse 13."

I looked out around me, "Normally I pride myself on going with the flow and I was doing pretty good, but," I looked at my sister, "what the hell Claud."

"Chill out, it's okay, take a breath I know it's a lot. Come on let me show you around." Claudia said.

I sighed and nodded, this was a lot to take in and seeing it all hit home a lot harder than hearing it did, "Okay." And followed her down the steps. I didn't even try to pay attention to how Kelly was processing this.

"Okay, so where to start? Hmm, oh I know." Claudia said before walking off to one of the shelves, "This is one of my favorites. Edgar Allen Poe's Pen."

It was a feather fountain pen, "What does it do?"

Claudia smiled, "Whatever you write with the pen actually manifests. It hurt Myka's dad though." I looked at her confused until she explained, "It's a bifurcated artifact, when the pen and notebook," she pointed to a leather bound notebook, "aren't together and someone uses the pen, the notebook uses the energy of the person who has it. Myka's dad got a hold of the notebook, but it's all good now."

Claudia walked off to another aisle, "This is Man-Rays Camera."

"What almost killed Myka?"

"Yep, but we have happy endings for the most part." Claudia nudged me smiling. We walked through the aisles, "Oh and this, this is Alessandro Volta's Lab Coat, it magnetized me to the ceiling, right up there." Claudia pointed to a spot on a steel support beam.

"Why?" I had to hear this.

"There was a bulb and it was flickering when I was doing inventory. It was annoying me, Artie wouldn't give me the keys to the cherry picker to tighten the bulb."

I just stared at her, "Really Claud?"

Claudia shrugged and said, "You would understand if you had been there."

"I'm sure I would." I said continuing to follow her through the aisles.

"And these are definitely my all time favorite, though I'm not sure which one is my favorite."

"Jimi Hendrix's guitars?"

"Yep." Claudia said before slipping on a purple glove before stroking the guitars.

"Okay…moving on before you start making out with the guitars."

Claudia rolled her eyes at me as we continued walking, "So you just go around the world collecting these artifacts everyday?" I asked.

Claudia shrugged, "Not everyday but that is my job description. That's Godfrid's Spoon." Claudia pointed to a large metal ladle. "So what are you're thoughts about going to high school?" She asked me.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I've never had friends or a family, and I don't know what I like half the time. Shit Claud, my whole life I've never had a say."

Claudia hugged me, "Shh, its okay Crissi. We'll figure it out. I promise. I mean you like your clothes right? My emo little sister." I nodded my head, I loved my super tight skinny jeans and my studded belts and bracelets, "Good. We'll figure out the rest. Come on there's a lot more to see."

We continued walking thought the aisles once again, Claudia pointing out random things, "Oh this is the DARPA GAK suit. Myka looked so freaking badass." We walked a few more aisles, "Ah, Mata Hari's Stockings."

"As in the spy?"

"Yeah, Artie would kill me for telling you that one, but they have seduction powers."

"I don't think I want to know that story…"

We walked past a door with a keypad but Claudia didn't even look at it. "Claud? What's in there?"

"That's the dark vault. I will not be showing you that. That's all the really dangerous stuff, like Lewis Carrol's Mirror and Sylvia Plath's typewriter."

"Sylvia Plath? Oh come on Claud, you can't tell me that then tell me no!"

"Yes I can. It sucks the life out of anyone who steps inside of the contamination field."

"How?"

"How do any of these things do what they do? No one knows." Claudia sighed, "I guess I can open the door, you can see the typewriter from there. No going in."

I smiled as Claudia typed in the code and the door opened. It was truly creepy in there. The typewriter was amazing though.

"Wow."

Claudia smirked at me, "I know right. You're like a mini me."

I rolled my eyes as she shut the door and we kept walking.

"Oh those are Muhammad Ali's Boxing Gloves from the Rumble in the Jungle. You see stars without being hit. And that's the Farnsworth Aisle, nothing special. Oh and this is what got Joshua stuck in the inter-dimensional space. Rheticus' Compass."

I stared at the brass square, "Is it okay that I feel the urge to smash it."

"Yeah as long as you don't act on it. Artie would kill you." We kept walking, "This was a fun one. Ulysses S. Grant's Flask, Steve and I bagged this one at a Civil War reenactment."

We kept walking until we came to an aisle that was snowing, "The Aisle of Noel, all the Christmas-y artifacts, and that's pretty much everything. Time to go back to the office. I wonder how Pete's doing with Kelly." Claudia said.


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next chapter! Read, enjoy, and review!**

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><p>We walked up the steps to Artie's office where Kelly was sitting on Pete's lap smiling and laughing. Pete was talking to Joshua.<p>

What was he doing here?

I ran over to him. "Hey!" I said hugging him.

Claudia hugged Joshua, "What are you doing here?"

Joshua smiled, "Artie called, asked me to come."

Claudia looked at Artie. "Why?"

"I believe you would like to know what your mother told your sister that I would tell you," Mrs. Frederic said appearing behind us.

We all turned to look at her. Silence ensued for a few more minutes.

Pete sighed. "Kelly let's go down to the Warehouse, there's always more to see."

Pete led Kelly out of Artie's office. Joshua, Claudia and I turned back to Mrs. Frederic. Joshua looked at me. "You saw mom?"

I nodded. "Yeah, had a bit of a meltdown. You've missed a lot." I shrugged not going into detail.

"We're talking later," Joshua said.

I nodded smiling and hugging him. I missed Joshua. Pete and Steve were good surrogates but there's nothing better than your actual big brother.

"Joshua, Claudia and Crissi," Mrs. Frederic started, "What do you remember of your parents?"

I looked at my siblings; Joshua and Claudia would remember them more than I did.

Joshua sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "They worked together, a crime lab for the city."

"Mom played the cello, harp, and trumpet," Claudia added.

I shrugged. "I only remember what they look like. I was five."

"How do you just tell every memory you have of your parents?" Claudia asked.

Artie shook his head. "Not every memory. Joshua answered the main thing."

The three of us looked between Artie and Mrs. Frederic.

"Arthur, tell them," Mrs. Frederic said looking at Artie.

Artie turned to her. "No. No, I think you should, caretaker and all."

They had a staring contest for a few minutes. Claudia got impatient. "Will one of you just tell us?"

Artie turned and looked at us and walked out down to the Warehouse floor. I looked at Claudia who was completely stunned. I turned to look at Mrs. Frederic, "Mom said you would tell us."

Mrs. Frederic nodded. "Very well. There is no easy way to tell about this. Your parents were Warehouse agents. They were very much the 'Pete and Myka' of their time in the Warehouse."

"You're telling me that Artie knew my parents?" Claudia asked.

Mrs. Frederic sighed. "The regents voted when Arthur became Joshua's professor not to tell, and once again they voted when you entered the Warehouse, and when Crissi came around too. It was voted that there would be a better time to tell."

I watched as Claudia walked out of the office into the Warehouse. Her aura was pulsing; she was pissed. Joshua was quiet, just thinking. I once again was left not knowing what to think. I looked up at Joshua trying to figure out what I should do.

Joshua looked at me. "It'll be okay."

I really wanted to tell him not to say that, I was really sick of hearing that.

"So, an artifact killed them?" Joshua asked.

Mrs. Frederic nodded.

"Are you kidding me? This is worse than Pete finding out his mom's a regent. And how exactly did you come to the conclusion to tell us that Crissi was dead?" Claudia asked walking back into the office.

"It wasn't easy," Mrs. Frederic started. "We knew Joshua wouldn't let either of you go, but he couldn't take care of you both."

"So you chose for us," Joshua finished.

I couldn't listen to it anymore. When Mrs. Frederic started trying to justify everything I looked for an out. The door had a keypad, so the only option was to hide somewhere in the Warehouse. I looked between Claudia, Joshua, and Mrs. Frederic, all who were arguing, and darted for the door going to the landing and sped down the stairs.

"Crissi!" I heard Claudia yell after me.

I wasn't sure where I was going but I kept running through the aisles of shelves. When I couldn't run anymore, I was breathing heavily in the middle of some aisle far in the Warehouse. I stopped and just sat on the floor. I felt like I should have been crying but I wasn't. I just learned that my sister worked for the people that allowed me to go through everything. They probably knew about it all too, that thought pissed me off. I sat there for a few more minutes; I heard Claudia and Joshua coming closer. I considered running, or just sitting there. They got to me before I could run again, so I stayed on the floor in the middle of the aisle.

"Crissi? Are you okay?" Claudia asked.

I looked at her. "What do you think?"

Claudia shrugged. "I would be pissed. I _am_ pissed. The regents literally chose one child over another. They needed to leave it alone."

Joshua hugged me. "I would have made it work some how."

"I know," I replied, "but they didn't give us a chance."

Artie came up behind Claudia. "Good you found her, however, negative energy…" He pointed to the boxes surrounding us as they started shaking.

Joshua helped me up and we all headed back to Artie's office. Mrs. Frederic was gone by the time we got there. Claudia picked up her guitar and sat in a chair in silence, playing random chords. I walked over to the other chair and pulled my knees to my chest.

Joshua stood in front of me. "Do you want to talk now?"

I shrugged. "It's a lot."

"Start at the beginning. We've got time Crissi."

I sighed. "The new semester started. Two guys that live down the hall hacked my university file, to start off. Then they asked me to tutor them in Calculus. Then Mrs. Frederic tells Claudia she can tell me about this place," I pointed all over. "Then I saw Dr. Mitchner, then Friday night I had a nightmare about my twelfth birthday, then I saw mom. Then Saturday night I saw Sean, he killed himself when he was fourteen in the institution, and then I have to process all of _this,_" I pointed out to the Warehouse floor, "on top of learning that that killed my parents and the regents, whoever they are, chose one of us over another."

Joshua sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I'm gone too much."

"No Joshua." I shook my head. "I'm okay."

He looked me in the eyes. "You're my baby sister. I shouldn't leave you to deal with all of this alone." he looked over at Claudia. "Either of you."

"We're not alone. We have Artie, Pete, Myka, H.G, and Jinksy. We're okay," Claudia said.

"You don't need to leave CERN, Joshua. Besides if you stay there, we have a reason to go to the Alps."

"Who says you need a reason?" Joshua asked smiling.

I hugged Joshua. "Oh, I'm quitting college."

"What?"

"We convinced her to give high school a try," Artie said.

Joshua looked at me. "Really?"

I shrugged. "Couldn't hurt to try to be normal."

"You are normal," Joshua told me. I raised my eyebrow at him. Joshua rolled his eyes. "As normal as a Donovan can be, how about that?"

"It'll do," I replied.

Claudia looked up at Artie. "Artie? What were our parents like as agents?"

"Well," Artie started, "your father was much like Pete with his go with the flow attitude, but he had the mind of H.G, always thinking. Your mom was a spitting image of Myka, right down to the punching."

"They never changed, even as parents. I never noticed because I try not to think about them, but Pete and Myka are just like them," Claudia said with a smile.

"I wish I could remember," I said looking at my hands.

Joshua hugged me. "It's not fair that we got so much time with them, but you can see them, talk to them."

"Only when they come to me."

Claudia put down her guitar and sat on the arm of my chair. "And I'm sure if you called them, they would come." Claudia looked at Artie. "What was it that killed them?"

Artie looked at Claudia. "I-I don't think you want—"

"Artie! I want to know."

"Okay, your parents were going after Jack the Ripper's Lantern. Your mom was hypnotized by it before your dad got there. The man who was holding it killed it when he saw your dad and your mom died. Your dad was so overwhelmed with grief that—" Artie paused and looked at us, he sighed. "—he stepped into Sylvia Plath's Typewriter's containment field. We couldn't find him, and by the time we did, it was too late."

"So he just left us? They didn't even go together?" I asked, "Didn't think about us?" I looked between Claudia and Joshua.

Joshua shook his head. "They couldn't survive without each other. They couldn't go an hour without talking."

"That's justification for leaving us?" I asked.

Claudia looked blank, which was scarier than her being emotional. "Suicide by artifact," she said in a monotone voice.

"It's not justification, it's just the way it was. I wish I could change it, but I can't."

"No use being upset anymore," Claudia added.

I scoffed. "Maybe for you two, but I can still hash it out with him."

Claudia looked down at me. "Would that bring him back?"

"No," I sighed.

"No, it won't. So what good would it do?"

"I don't know. It'd probably make me feel better."

"Do you really believe that?" Joshua asked.

I shook my head, "No."

Artie cleared his throat. "I'm going to go find Pete before he blows something up. Then I think we should head back to the B&B."

Artie walked out and the three of us just sat in silence. Joshua looked between Claudia and me; we were all waiting to see who would speak first.

Joshua sighed. "This doesn't change anything. Not really."

"Yes it does," I argued.

Claudia put her hand on my shoulder. "It really doesn't though, Crissi. Knowing the truth doesn't bring them back, doesn't change our life experiences, nothing. So, no, it doesn't change anything."

I wanted to argue that it did still, emotionally it did, but logically it didn't change anything at all, and in my brain logic won over emotions. Giving in I sighed. "No it doesn't. So no use in giving it anymore thought."

Pete, Kelly, and Artie walked into the room. I knew they could feel the tension in the air, so I got up and Claudia and Joshua followed. The six of us all headed to the SUV, Pete and Joshua pulled the backseat up and I climbed in through the trunk. The drive back to Leena's was quiet between us three Donovans. Pete and Kelly were pretty cheery, which made me a little happier.

We pulled up to Leena's and we all headed in. I walked straight up to my room. I opened my door, shut it behind me, and lay down on my bed all very mechanically. I stayed there for about five minutes until there was a knock on my door.

I sighed. "Come in."

H.G opened my door. "How did it go?"

"The Warehouse is cool, but I definitely could have done without hearing about my mom and dad," I told her still not moving.

H.G sat on my bed rubbing my back. "Yes. Claudia told me. I'm sorry darling."

"I don't even know what to think about it. It's just, blank," I told her quietly.

"You need time to process everything. Anyone would, I'm sure Claudia and Joshua are having a difficult time with this new information just as you are," H.G. said quietly.

I sighed. "Claudia's probably having the most difficult time. She works there every day, deals with the very thing that killed them."

H.G stayed silent, just rubbing my back, which seemed to be all the comfort I needed. I wasn't feeling better, but it helped. The silence was nice; I could almost pretend to be normal.

Another knock on my door revealed Myka. I waved her in and she sat on the other side of my bed.

"Hey," she said quietly.

I quietly replied, "Hi."

"Artie was wondering if you still wanted to go to the high school tomorrow, or if you needed some time," Myka told me, moving the hair out of my face.

I sighed. "I'm good to go tomorrow. I need a distraction."

Myka nodded. "Okay. We just don't want you to rush into it, okay?"

I nodded back. "I know, but I can't just sit around and dwell on all of it, so I'm going."

"I'll go tell Artie," Myka said getting up and leaving.

I didn't remember much after that, I fell asleep to H.G rubbing my back, and was woken up by Claudia playing The Clash off her phone by my pillow.

"What Claudia?" I asked trying to slap her to make her turn it off.

Claudia had a smile on her face. "Come on, we're all going to the Univille diner for dinner. All you can eat pancakes, on Pete."

I rolled off my bed. "Okay, I'm coming, just shut it off," I said wiping my eyeliner off my face.

Claudia turned off the music. I slipped on my leather jacket, grabbing my phone and iPod, and followed her out of my room.

Joshua hugged me when I got to the bottom of the stairs. "Feeling better?"

"Sort of," I told him.

All of us piled into the SUV and Jinky's Prius. Pancakes of course were delicious and normal conversation picked up.

"Are you sure you're ready to do this?" Artie asked me.

I shrugged. "What's the worst that can happen? Seriously Artie. I'm fine."

I was definitely feeling in lighter spirits, everyone was laughing and having a good time and it was definitely having a good effect on me.

"If you're sure, and if at any time you want to leave, either Claudia, H.G, or I, one of us will be in the office waiting," Artie told me.

I looked at H.G, who was having a quiet conversation with Myka. "Why H.G?"

Artie looked at the two. "She asked to. She worries about you, she sees her daughter in you."

"Christina? Really?" I asked.

Artie put down his fork. "Sometimes it's not just how similar you are. You are still a child; she will always be a mother. You're both lucky."

I looked over to H.G, still involved with a secret conversation with Myka and gave a small smile. "Thanks Artie."

The rest of the night passed effortlessly and I fell asleep easily that night.


	6. Chapter 6

**Here we are! Sorry it took so long. I don't have fast internet at home so I have to rely on the library. But enough of my lame excuses. Enjoy the latest installment!**

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><p>Claudia woke me up at 5:30. "Come on. Rise and shine. Got to make you all pretty for your first day of high school," she said while shaking me.<p>

I groaned. "It's too early."

"It's 5:30, school starts at 7:25. Up. Come on."

I rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. I returned to my room trying to figure out what to wear. People are extremely judgmental; first impressions are everything. I pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans, a neon blue tank top, and I stared at my drawer of t-shirts. I couldn't pick. Since I was indecisive, I decided to go blow dry and straighten my hair. I did my eyeliner and eye shadow. After I was finished getting ready I returned to the dilemma of what shirt. I walked to Claudia's room and knocked.

"Come in," she said.

I walked in to see her all dressed and doing something on her computer.

"Claud?"

Claudia turned around and smiled. "Cute."

"I can't decide what t-shirt to wear."

"You're wearing your leather jacket, right?"

I shrugged. "I don't have any other coat like jackets, so I guess I am."

Claudia gave a small smile. "Come on, we'll find something for you."

I followed Claudia to my bedroom, she opened all my tank top drawers; she flipped through them for a few minutes before handing me a white Avenged Sevenfold tank top and two of my studded belts.

"There. Actually only the silver studs."

I finished getting dressed and Claudia seemed to like it so I was good.

"Ready to go?" Claudia asked me.

I took one more look in the mirror and took a deep breath. I turned and grabbed my messenger back. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I followed her down stairs; I could smell eggs and bacon. Leena was setting the table as we walked in and she gave me a small smile. "Ready for this, Crissi?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. As ready as I'll ever be."

Leena put a plate of eggs in front of me. "Eat up."

"I don't know if I can eat right now, Leena. I'm too nervous."

"Try, a little bit at least okay?"

I sighed. "Okay."

Internally I was a wreck. HG and Myka came down followed by Jinksy, then Joshua. Pete came down last and we all waited for Artie to come over from the Warehouse.

"You're going to love it Crissi!" Pete said animatedly.

I saw Myka roll her eyes. "Just remember that if you don't like it, you don't have to go." I gave Myka a small smile.

Artie walked in the door at 6:45. "Ready to go?" he asked walking into the dining room.

Claudia and HG got up with me as I hugged everyone.

"Good luck, Pipsqueak, you'll do great," Pete said as we walked out the door.

I rolled my eyes, then a shiver took over. January was fucking freezing in South Dakota. We all got into the SUV; it was a quiet drive to Univille's high school. Artie parked and we all got out.

Claudia gave me a small hug. "Pull out your kick ass attitude. Let them know now that you're a force to be reckoned with. Confidence is key; don't let them see that you're nervous okay? I know you don't take shit from anyone, force them to learn it the minute you walk in those doors. Make these morons see you move in slow motion."

I gave her a smirk and shook my head. "Hey, Artie?"

"Yes?"

"Where are we saying I went to school before here?"

"The story is you went to school in Switzerland, and you lived with Joshua."

I looked at him. "Artie I'm pretty sure some of them have probably seen me around town."

Artie sighed. "Say you were visiting Claudia. Switzerland has different breaks."

"And any other crazy thing about your past you want to create, we'll back up," Claudia said giving me her 'scare these bitches' look.

I returned the look with my own dark smirk; this could be fun.

"Do you two mind putting the plotting on hold? It's cold out here," Artie said.

I shrugged and followed Claudia, HG, and Artie to the main office. I could feel all eyes on me as we walked through the halls. Artie walked into the main office and the principal greeted us.

"Welcome to UHS, please sit," Principal Dude said. "I understand that you want to shadow someone for the day."

I gave a small nod and Artie and the principal started talking, then he picked up the phone and called someone in. After about five minutes a girl dressed in a cheerleader outfit walked in.

"You wanted to see me, Mr. Wallace?"

"Yes Jenna. This is Crissi, she'll be shadowing you for the day."

Jenna looked at me and I glanced at Claudia who shrugged.

I stood up and followed her out the door. HG gave me a small hug and Artie said, "Good luck, Kiddo."

To which I turned around and said, "Artie. God."

I followed Jenna out the door. "I've seen you around town before, hanging out with that group of IRS people," she said.

I nodded. "Yeah, my sister works with them."

"What made you think of transferring here?" she asked as we walked through the halls.

I shrugged. "I was going to school in Switzerland because my brother works at CERN, but I recently moved here to live with my sister, and Artie seems to think I need to go to school, so here I am."

We stopped at her locker. "You lived in Switzerland?"

I nodded.

"What about your parents? Was that them?"

I shook my head. "No, Artie is—" I paused, what is Artie? I couldn't say Claudia's boss, that'd be weird. I shrugged. "Artie is kind of like my father figure."

"I see. Who was the other woman?"

I smiled. "That's H. – Helena. She's like my mother figure I guess you could say."

"And they all work in that IRS Warehouse together?"

I sighed. "Yeah, it's kind of like a big family. It's complicated."

Jenna nodded. "Well—" The bell rang. "We have two minutes to get to class."

I followed her through the halls. "What's the first class?"

"Science, with Watkins, he's pretty cool I guess."

I followed her into a classroom that was kind of noisy, and up to the teacher's desk.

"Mr. Watkins?"

He looked up from the computer. "What's up, Jenna?"

"This is Crissi, she's shadowing me for the day."

He smiled. "Well, welcome. Jenna just pull a chair up by your desk."

The class was boring, simple, and dry, and I quickly realized the school was filled with idiots. When the bell rang, I followed Jenna through the halls. She talked with her friends and they asked me a few questions.

"Why would you come here from Switzerland?"

I took a second to think. "My sister wanted me for a little while. My brother had me there for like two years."

"So you just move back and forth from Europe and here?" a guy asked.

I shrugged. "I haven't in a while, but I guess I'm here for now. Well I might not. I don't know yet."

Another guy asked, "Where else would you go?"

"Back to college," I muttered quickly before saying, "homeschooling probably."

I tried my best throughout talking with them not to slip up about my past schooling and using small words. Though small words was something I became really good at because Dr. Mitchner would 'punish' me for using really long, complicated words.

Jenna's next class was Algebra, which I mentally scoffed at. Algebra was baby's work and I had a rather difficult time listening to the irritating questions. I had to fight correcting Jenna's work since they had a work day. So far the school seemed okay but I definitely didn't fit in with Jenna and her crowd. A girl with black hair and hot pink bangs sat behind Jenna, and she seemed nice. All I could hope for though was that there would be placement tests for me to take so I wouldn't be banging my head on the desk through all the stupidity that had been displayed.

After that, Jenna had Academic Center, or AC, which was like study hall but they had teachers that gave them papers with 'missing assignments' on them. Jenna's teacher was Mr. Watkins, and I spent that hour talking about chemistry with him.

"Where did you learn all that stuff that you were talking to Watkins about?" Jenna asked as we walked to lunch, well also to the office.

I stuttered for a minute before saying. "Switzerland has a different curriculum. Obviously it would be different than here."

Jenna nodded. "That makes sense. Here's the office, do you want me to wait?"

"Sure, I won't be long. I just want to see who's here. They told me one of them at least would be here," I answered opening the door.

Once I walked into the office, I saw Claudia on her computer and HG messing with some gadget. HG looked up first and put down her tools walking over to me.

"How is it going, darling?" she asked hugging me.

"It's going pretty well I think. It's different. Did Leena send lunch by any chance?"

Claudia smiled. "Artie went over and picked it up before heading to work. Here." She handed me a Styrofoam box. "Leena made you a corned beef sandwich."

I smiled. "Thanks Claud. See you guys," I said hugging Claudia and HG one more time.

As I walked towards the door Claudia said, "Have you begun your back story yet?"

I shook my head. "Haven't needed to yet."

"Make sure it's bad ass."

I nodded and headed out the door meeting up with Jenna.

"You guys really are tight," Jenna said as we walked to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, we are. All of us have grown close. We're a family."

"I'm assuming you lost your parents?" Jenna asked.

I was shocked at her bluntness before answering. "Yes, in a car wreck when I was five."

"That's rough."

I shrugged. "I lost them, but I didn't lose my family. They're still with me."

Jenna finally dropped it. We walked into the cafeteria and sat down with her friends. They stared at my gourmet looking, non-cafeteria food. After a few minutes normal conversation picked up and they were talking about basketball games and competition season for cheerleading. I stayed quiet, eating my lunch, bored with the lack of stimulating conversation.

"So Crissi, what do you like doing?" another guy asked.

I shrugged. "Same things everyone else likes to do. Our generation all does the same things. We're a unique monotony."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone hangs out, it's all the same. But you don't hang out the same the geeks or skaters do. You wouldn't want to be even remotely similar, but we all just 'hang out'."

The group stared at me as I finished my sandwich before a guy said, "That's so true."

I gave him a small smile before going to throw my trash away. I walked back to the table. "I'm going to go to the office real quick," I told Jenna.

She nodded. "I'll come get you when the bell rings. I have Spanish next and it's on the way."

I gave her a small smile and headed out of the cafeteria to the office. I walked in and Claudia was on her Farnsworth with Artie.

"Artie she's fine. I know you think about her, me, well us Donovan's as kids of yours, but she's my sister. I'd know if she was freaked."

"Okay, okay, just make sure she knows she doesn't have to do this."

I walked over and leaned over Claudia's shoulder. "Artie, I'm fine. It's interesting. No one's killed me yet."

"Oh, hi Crissi. Are you sure?" Artie asked.

I nodded. "Yeah grumps, chill. I'm on lunch break for the next ten or so minutes—"

Claudia cut me off. "Now you know she's fine. Bye Artie!" She shut the Farnsworth. "So what's up?"

I sat down in the third chair at the table. "Their talking bores me. It's all stupid social life and Jenna can't even do basic algebra."

HG smiled. "Darling, they're going to be a bit under your level."

"HG, they're really under my level. Lack of stimulating conversation bores me," I told her.

"You'll figure something out. Are you going to be able to handle doing the homework every night?" Claudia asked.

I sighed, shrugging. "I don't know. Mind numbing work. Depends on how fast I can write and what classes they are. Is there a way I can take some placement test or other?"

Claudia smirked. "Not even technically enrolled and already trying to get out."

"No just trying to avoid baby's work," I retorted rolling my eyes.

"It's all going to be baby's work to you," HG replied.

I sighed, then I heard the bell ring and internally groaned.

"What's next for you?" Claudia asked.

"Spanish."

"Don't be a show off!" Claudia called as I headed out the door to wait for Jenna in the hall.

I was really good with languages, it was my major; I just took all the science and math for a challenge. Jenna came down the hall and stopped next to me.

"Ready to go?"

I nodded. "Sure, but I think you should know I'm kind of already fluent in Spanish."

Jenna smiled. "You don't actually have to pay attention."

I returned the smiled. "'Kay."

"So what other languages do you speak?"

"Uh, Russian, French, German, Portuguese, oh and Gaelic's a fun one. Joshua and I would spend our weekends soaking up the European culture. Breakfast in France, dinner in Germany," I told her.

I honestly doubted that anyone here was going to figure out my real story. Having fun with it could end in disaster, but if it did, I could always disappear and actually go live with Joshua.

"That's fucking sweet," Jenna said. "Why would you come here from that?"

"Because I love my big sister and I need her just as much as I need my brother," I answered.

We walked into the Spanish classroom and I sat down next to Jenna because she knew her partner wasn't here today. I spent the hour helping Jenna with pronunciations. The next class Jenna had was history with some moron who barely spoke in full sentences. After that she had English with a teacher who seemed more hippy than professional, and I silently hoped I would get to have her as a teacher.

"My last class is choir," Jenna said as we walked through the halls.

"I'm not the musically inclined Donovan, but Claudia plays a mean guitar and has a pretty awesome voice if you ask me," I told her.

Jenna laughed. "Yeah, I've seen her on open mic night."

"I can't say she's not the best big sister in the world."

Jenna laughed and we walked into the choir room. Her friends came over and started talking sports again.

"Hey, are you coming to the game tonight?" a girl asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know," I answered, looking her up and down.

"Oh, sorry, I'm Kaitlin. Just wondering if you wanted to come see the game tonight?"

"I don't know. I have to see what everyone else is doing," I answered, knowing Pete would be on board.

"You have to see what who? Your babysitters are doing?" she asked.

I glared at her. "They're not my babysitters; they're my family."

Kaitlin put her hands up. "Okay, sorry. Most kids want as far away from their families as possible."

I glanced at her. "You'll find I'm not most kids."

The choir director came in and the class period started. I sat and watched as every now and then Jenna would say something to Kaitlin and she would act defensive. I was so grateful when the bell finally rang.

Jenna and I walked to the office. "Sorry about Kaitlin. She likes to see who will stand up to her."

I shrugged. "It's whatever."

Jenna handed me a piece of paper. "Call me if you're coming to the game."

I took the piece of paper and walked into the office. Claudia, HG, and Artie along with Pete and Myka were there.

"Hey, hey, hey. How was it?" Pete asked.

I rolled my eyes and gave a small laugh. "What are you doing here?"

"We wanted to see how your day went," Myka said.

"Okay I guess," I told her.

"Just okay?" Pete asked.

Claudia laughed. "The lack of stimulating conversation bores her."

Pete looked at me stunned, I shrugged. "I don't get what the big deal is with football games and basketball. Sports are so not my forte."

"What is your forte? Hmm?" Pete asked.

"Still working on that one," I told him.

The principal came out and started talking with Artie.

"All stimulating conversation or lack thereof, what did you think?" Myka asked me.

"Academic wise, if I can get out of taking Algebra and some other classes I'll be copacetic," I told her.

Myka glanced at HG who nodded. HG walked over to where the principal was talking with Artie and began to inquire about course selections.

Pete, Myka, Claudia, and I talked about other things. I told Pete about the game and he insisted that we go. I told him I wasn't sure and to ask me when I felt more calmed down.

HG and Artie came back over and said, "You're testing out of Algebra, Geometry, and freshman science tomorrow. That is if you want to come to school here still."

I nodded. "Thanks Artie."

He nodded and Pete replied, "To the B&B for cookies!" He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of the office and down the hall.

"Pete! People are watching! What the hell!" I called trying – and failing – to pull my arm out of his grasp.

Pete stopped and looked at me. "You shouldn't care what people think about you."

"And any other day I wouldn't, but I have to live with these people now," I told him.

Pete looked around and gripped my wrist again, "Cookies!", and took off out the doors with me behind him.


	7. Chapter 7

**We are horrible people. Please just read and forgive. We still love any and all reviews you send out!**

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><p>Pete spent the drive to the B&amp;B grilling about how the day went. "Pete! I'm not telling you, I'll tell everyone when everyone's at Leena's! What about you and Kelly? How's that going?"<p>

Pete's dorky smile came out. "Amazing. When she left, I was like, I don't even know. But now she's back. I love her so much!"

I shook my head. "So is she moving into the B&B? Or are you moving out?" I asked quietly.

"I'm not leaving, Pipsqueak," Pete said, messing up my hair.

I moved away from his hand. "Good."

After a few minutes we reached Leena's and were quickly followed in by a pissed Claudia, an amused HG, an un-amused Artie, and Myka scolding Pete.

Jinksy and Leena were in the kitchen talking when we all walked in.

"Hey, how was it?" Jinksy asked.

I shrugged throwing my bag on the floor, earning a glare from Leena. "Different."

"You'll get used to it," Jinksy replied.

Everyone sat down around the table and Leena pulled out some cold cuts for a snack before sitting also.

"So what did you think of the people?" Myka inquired.

"I think I'll have to dumb myself down a bit, though I guess I'm kind of used to it," I answered.

"So, big basketball game tonight! Who's down for going to it?" Pete asked.

Claudia just scoffed. "No thanks."

"I think I'll read a book instead," Myka told him.

Artie muttered something about being away from the warehouse for too long. HG looked at me, I shrugged, "I don't know." I had never been one for sports, spectator or otherwise.

Jinksy copied my shrug, "I could do with going to see a game."

"Okay, Jinksy's in, but you kind of need to come Crissi. It's your new school," Pete pleaded, glancing at me.

I sighed. "Claudia, will you help me find something to wear?"

She nodded. "Of course. I can't let you go out looking a hot mess."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I think I've done a good job of dressing myself, thank you!"

Claudia ignored me – weird I know.

Artie glanced at me. "She's testing out of three classes tomorrow. Don't be out too late."

"Congrats, Crissi," Jinksy told me.

I smiled. "Thanks Jinksy."

Leena also smiled. "Good luck."

"Thanks Leena. Are you going to come with us?" I partially insisted.

You could see her thinking it through. "I guess I could come with you guys."

"HG?" I turned towards the other person who hadn't supplied an answer.

HG had once again been having an eye conversation with Myka. "Sorry, darling, there's been a new idea floating around my head and I've been dying to put pen to paper."

I nodded with a smirk and raised eyebrow, telling her and Myka that they had been caught. "I'll call Jenna later to tell her we're coming to the game."

"What was your favorite part of the day?" Leena questioned.

I didn't know. I answered, "Uhm, I guess choir, it was the only class I didn't feel like everyone was an idiot."

Myka shook her head. "You'll get used to it."

Then a thought entered my mind. "What happens if I become a delinquent, Artie?"

"It runs in your family," Artie supplied bluntly.

"Doesn't answer the question, Artie," I told him.

Artie glared at me. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Don't you mean _if_?" I tilted my head to the side.

"You," he pointed at me, "are related to," he pointed to Claudia, "her. It's a matter of _when_, not _if_."

My jaw dropped. "That is so not fair."

"When it happens we'll discuss it then," Artie answered shortly, forcing the topic to be dropped.

The answer didn't appease me, but I allowed it to drop for now, it wasn't like Artie could make me do inventory, something Claudia and Pete were often threatened with. HG shook her head at me; I was having a feeling that if I became a delinquent, she would be the one to ground me, or whatever. That thought did not appeal to me. At all. We spent a bit longer snacking and talking before we all ran off to our respective caves. Pete and Claudia to Pete's room to go play video games, Jinksy tagging along, Myka to the living room to read a book on the couch, HG following behind with something she'd been tinkering with, Leena was cleaning the kitchen, Artie left for the warehouse, which left me. I decided to chill out in the kitchen with Leena.

"You seem confused," Leena stated when everyone cleared out.

I shrugged. "A bit. Trying to make sense of everything still."

"Your aura's looking like Artie's," she said in her concerned voice.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "I could say the same to you. You need a vacation, Leena."

Leena shook her head. "This place wouldn't be standing when I got back, between Pete, HG, and your sister."

"I'm sure Myka could handle Pete and HG, and I think Claudia listens to Jinksy well enough. You totally could handle a vacation," I retorted.

"You would all starve," Leena argued.

I rolled my eyes. "You're making excuses, Leena. Claudia makes a mean omelet, and Myka knows more than enough about other forms of food, Pete makes decent pancakes, and I've heard Pete brag about Kelly's cooking more than enough times. Even before she came back."

"And I could totally count on you guys to clean up after yourselves," Leena retaliated.

"Excuses, excuses Leena," I responded grabbing my bag off the floor before heading up to my bedroom.

Opening my door, I sighed walking over to my desk, glancing over calculus homework I had been working on in one of my notebooks. I sat down at my desk, flipping to my German homework, I know I didn't have to do it, but I was looking for a distraction – mindless easy distraction. I sat there doing pointless conjugations and writing sentences for half an hour in silence. I was startled when there was a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called.

Pete and Claudia came in. "Mario Kart, come on," Pete said throwing a wireless controller at me.

I clicked my pen and got up. "You're going down!"

Mario Kart was a good way to process everything also, take out all my emotions on the game and kick Pete's ass, all the while feeling more relaxed by the end of it. I gave Jenna a call telling her I was coming to the game and she seemed excited.

Pete was in the lead, but only by a touch, Claudia was right on his tail.

"Hey Pete?" I asked.

"Yeah?"

I smirked. "Have you asked Kelly about the game?"

He looked at me blankly. "What?"

Claudia passed him, then me, followed by Jinksy. "Hey! No fair!"

"All's fair in love and Mario Kart," I told him.

"Nuhuh!" He retorted by sticking his tongue out at me.

"So did you talk to her?" I asked him.

"About what?"

I facepalmed. "Is Kelly coming with us to the game?"

Pete shrugged. "She's working late tonight, setting everything back where it was in her practice. I'll give her a call, since I'm out now. Thank you very much!"

We laughed as Pete pulled his phone out and we started another round. Pete and her talked for a while doing all their kissy-kissy-love-love stuff. When he final got off the phone he smiled. "She's coming with."

We played Mario Kart for a while longer until I decided to get ready. I took off my makeup and washed my face. I knew I was only going to put my makeup back on, but my face felt gross. I walked back into my room; Claudia was going through my clothes. She laid a pair of destroyed skinny jeans and a read tank top out.

"What shirt do you want to wear?" Claudia asked me.

I glanced at my dresser and pulled out my black shirt that had a graphic spine and ribcage with a red heart, Claudia gave me a smirk. "Get dressed, Pete said Kelly would be here in like half an hour." She walked out of my room.

I quickly got dressed and put my makeup back on; I grabbed my leather jacket and headed downstairs with my phone and iPod. Leena and Claudia were talking about something warehouse-y and Pete and Jinksy were talking sports and HG and Myka were nowhere to be found. I walked over and sat down between Leena and Claudia.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing, just talking about placements for artifacts," Claudia answered.

I nodded. "And you can't just place them anywhere, their energies would go insane."

Leena smirked at me. "Try explaining that to _them_."

I gave a small laugh and we all continued talking until Kelly walked in the door. "Ready to go?"

Pete, Jinksy, Leena and I all stood up and headed out to the SUV. The outside air was really cold and the five of us made a run for the car, which unfortunately for us, wasn't much warmer.

"Why does it have to be so cold?" Pete whined.

I rolled my eyes. "Well Pete, with the tilted 23 degrees on its axis, during the months where—"

"I know! Still!" He cut me off.

I stuck my tongue out at him. He didn't like my know-it-all attitude, Kelly slapped his arm for being mean to me and I couldn't hold in my giggle.

"How did you like the school, Crissi?" Kelly asked turning around to look at me.

I shrugged and realized I do that a lot. "It was different. I'm probably going to get very bored for awhile."

"Crissi's testing out of a few classes to make that a bit easier," Jinksy informed her.

Kelly smiled. "That's great! I'm sure you'll do well."

I gave a small smile back. "Thanks Kelly."

Pete pulled into the parking lot. "We are here."

The five of us quickly got out, making our way into the school. We walked in and followed the signs to the gym. Waiting outside of the gym was Jenna in her cheer uniform.

"Hey, I'm glad you could make it," Jenna said.

"Hi, oh this is Steve," I cupped my hand towards her and mock whispered, "Jinksy." I smiled, "Leena, Pete, and Kelly."

Jenna nodded. "Nice to meet you, come on."

She led us into the gym and went down to the sidelines to cheer. I followed Pete and everyone else down the steps to get closer to the court. We sat down and Pete and Jinksy got into the game while Kelly, Leena and I just sat there talking a bit. I started to get a headache. I had made it through the day, but I still wasn't used to being surrounded by so many auras and it was taking a toll.

"Crissi, are you okay?" Leena asked putting a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded. "I have a bit of a headache. I'm fine though."

Leena pulled a bottle of ibuprofen out of her purse and handed me two, I popped them in my mouth, swallowing them like House. I had long ago mastered the art of swallowing pills. We resumed our small talk and I took a minute to look around and see who was here, if I recognized anyone. I saw the girl with pink bangs. She was sitting with her friends and I honestly wondered why they would come to a basketball game; but then I realized there's probably nothing better to do. I briefly wondered if Univille had an underground, though if it did Claudia probably would have found it by now. I watched as Pete and Jinksy got more and more into the game, and Leena and Kelly continued their talk.

"Hey," I heard a voice behind me.

I turned around to see the girl with pink bangs. "Hi," I replied.

She sat down on the bleachers behind us. "I'm Dakota, and you are Crissi."

I nodded. "Yeah, and…?"

Dakota gave a small smile. "Want to come sit with me and my friends?"

I looked over at where her friends were sitting. "Sure." I turned to Leena. "I'm going to go over there, okay?"

Leena glanced over at them for a second, inspecting their auras no doubt, before smiling. "Have fun."

I got up and followed Dakota over to her friends. "That was a bit weird," she said.

I shook my head. "It's just Leena being Leena."

We sat down with her friends. "Guys this is Crissi. She's the new kid."

A boy with dirty blonde, curly hair replied. "Nice to meet you. What made you want to come to Univille?"

I glanced over at Pete and Jinksy for a second. "Living with my sister, I lived with my brother for awhile so I came here to stay with her for a bit."

"Sounds like your life's been interesting," another boy stated.

"Yeah, I suppose," I replied thinking they didn't know the half of it. "What's life here like?"

Dakota laughed. "Life is boring as hell. There's nothing to do, unless you know where to look."

I smirked. "And where exactly should I be looking?"

A boy with black hair moved his bangs out of his eyes. "Stick with us and you'll find out."

I rolled my eyes. "Why so cliché?"

Dakota raised her eyebrow at the kid. "Just this once the cliché is right. Anyway, the curly dirty blonde kid is Mike, the other kid is Nate, and black haired dude is Ryan."

I nodded. "And everyone in Univille already knows the new kid," I stated.

They all nodded. "It's a small town of old people; it's all gossip here," said Mike.

"I've been in worse places," I replied looking around the gym, there were a few championship banners and trophy cases.

"Do you know what your schedule is, yet?" Ryan asked.

"No," I answered, shaking my head. "I have to test out of a few classes first."

We all continued talking until the game was over and everyone came over to get me.

"Ready to go, Crissi?" Jinksy asked.

I stood up and nodded. "Yeah," I turned towards my new friends. "I'll see you tomorrow, bye."

They returned the good-byes and I followed Pete, Kelly, and Jinksy with Leena.


	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the next chapter guys! Enjoy!**

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><p>"Looks like you've made some friends," Pete said as we walked towards the car.<p>

I shrugged, "Maybe. When are we going to get all my stuff from my dorm?"

"Well, you're only testing out of classes tomorrow, we can go after that if you want." Jinksy offered.

I nodded, tomorrow was Tuesday, my roommate only had one 8am class that she regularly skipped, "Why not," I replied shrugging, all my good clothes were at school, "Thanks Jinksy."

He gave me a smile, "No probs, Pete and Myka can go to the warehouse and you, Claudia and I will go get your stuff."

Pete shook his head, "Nuh-uh! Not fair! We'll all go, separate cars and have the Farnsworth in case something comes up."

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever Artie says tomorrow, Pete. I still have to take the tests tomorrow."

We rode back to the B&B, Pete and Jinksy going on about every even halfway decent play. When we arrived home I went up to my room, opening my door to see my dad sitting on my bed. I had half a mind just to ignore him, but I couldn't do that.

Shutting my door I sighed, "What do you want?"

"You're so grown up." He told me, staring at me up and down.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, that's what happens when the last time you saw me I was nine. What do you want?"

"Your mom said you would probably be pissed at me." He stated, completely unsurprised at my bluntness.

I sat down at my desk, "No shit, Sherlock."

"You're too young to understand," he tried telling me.

"Don't give me that bullshit! You left us! You left a five year old! It's your fault! It's all your fault!"

"I know," He replied quietly, "but I couldn't live without your mom."

"Your three kids wasn't a good enough reason to stay where everyone could see you?"

He didn't answer me, just looked at the floor. I was so upset; if he had been stronger, Claudia wouldn't have gone through what she did, I wouldn't have gone through what I had.

"Did you ever regret it? When I would see you and mom, when I was locked up? I know you two probably went and looked over Claudia after what happened with Joshua. Did you ever once think that maybe you shouldn't have done it? Or maybe told me, well, us the truth? That it wasn't a car accident?"

He glanced at me, "Of course I regret it, but I can't at the same time."

I ran a hand through my hair, "That's really shitty, you know that right?"

Dad nodded, "But there's nothing I can do about it now."

"That's bullshit also, something's keeping you and mom around."

"We spend our time watching you guys grow up, Joshua and his work, Claudia and the warehouse, you and going to college and we agree that probably wasn't the best for you."

"You don't care that Claudia does the same thing that killed both of you?" I asked, "Because I'm pretty sure parents should care about that sort of thing."

"Claudia's had an attachment to the warehouse since she was born. It would be ridiculous to fight it," he told me.

I raised my eyebrow, "So you're perfectly cool with her working at the place that killed both you and mom?"

"If I had a say, no. I wouldn't be, but we've learned not to fight the warehouse. The warehouse knows what and who it wants."

I rolled my eyes, "Great. So, Joshua was destined to be a genius, Claudia's destined for the warehouse, and I'm what? I get nothing."

"There's a plan for you, you just have to figure it out, and be patient. It'll come to you," Dad told me calmly.

A knock on the door pulled me away from my irritated state, "Who is it?"

"It's me," Claudia's voice came through the door.

"It's open," I called back glancing at Dad, waiting to see what he would do.

Claudia walked in and saw that I was sitting at my desk, "What's going on?"

"Dad and I are just having a much needed chat," I told her glancing at Dad, he was watching Claudia. She was a spitting image of Mom when she was younger.

Claudia glanced towards where I was looking, "He's here?"

I nodded, "You two are having some awkward form of a staring contest without you knowing it."

Claudia averted her eyes to look at the floor, "That's weird. What're you talking about?"

I glared at Dad, "How much of an idiot he is."

"That's not fair, Crissi," Dad reprimanded.

"In what universe?" I scoffed.

"What did he say?" Claudia asked.

I ran a hand through my bangs, "He said me calling him an idiot wasn't fair. I'm pretty sure it's completely fair."

"You're too young to understand–"

I cut him off, "Biggest bullshit that everyone likes to spew at me. Whenever someone knows I'm completely right, they turn it around and say I don't get it because I'm fourteen. Don't tell me I'm too young. It's simple. Mom got killed so you left your three children to fend for themselves while you went and offed yourself."

Claudia glanced between the space where Dad was and I, "What the hell is going on?"

I glanced over at Claudia, "Nothing," I turned around and stared at a few old college assignments littering my desk.

Claudia walked over to me; she wasn't as much of a hot head as she used to be from the stories I've heard. She's still as snarky as ever, "I know it's hard."

I knew she was right, she was in that place too, but she checked herself in. I got sent there, and for a lot longer than she was there for. I wanted to snap at her, but that wouldn't do anything for me. I sighed, "Why does everything fall apart?"

"Hey, not everything falls apart. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere."

I rolled my eyes, "Until some artifact kills you too."

Claudia spun me around in my desk chair, putting her hands on my shoulders, "I'm not going anywhere." She moved my bangs out of my eyes and kissed my forehead, "Don't worry."

I glanced at her brown eyes, "I've never let myself get attached, then I found my family and–"

"None of us are going anywhere," Claudia cut me off.

"You can't promise that, Claud," I told her, "I'm pretty sure mom hadn't planned on going anywhere."

Claudia hugged me, "I promise that even though shit happens, I'm not going anywhere."

I rolled my eyes but returned the hug, her aura was confident and oozed worry at the same time. I glanced over her shoulder, dad was still here; he was crying but they were happy tears. I sighed. No my life wasn't exactly ideal for the last seven years or so, but it was pretty badass now.

"Ready for those tests tomorrow?" Claudia asked, releasing me and smiling.

I half-laughed, "Pshht, of course."

"What tests?" Dad asked.

I stared at what Claudia saw as an empty space, "I'm testing out of a couple classes tomorrow."

Dad scoffed, "And she tells me she's got nothing."

I shook my head, "I don't have anything. Claud's got the warehouse, Josh is at CERN. I've got high school."

Claudia ran her hands through my hairs, "Yes, you do, little Miss "I speak every language"."

I sighed, "Tell me, what can I do with that?"

"Lots of things, and little Miss "I see ghosts and auras"."

I groaned and stared at the ceiling, all telling people would get me is thrown back in the asylum. Claudia didn't believe me until Leena told her I was right, and it took her time to come around to it. I was glad she did though. I looked at Claudia, "Did you ever find out how he got out?"

Claudia nodded stiffly, "I'm not happy about it."

"What'd they do?" I asked her.

She ran a hand through her short hair, "There's this artifact, called the Janus Coin. It splits your personality from your body. They used it on him, gave him a new name and life. He has no memory of either of us."

"Why didn't they tell you that instead of saying he was bronzed?"

"The team isn't exactly fond of the Janus Coin. The Regents at one point had stuck HG on it; plus, the coin takes your memories and thoughts by thinking so all you really have to do is not think about something. That could be why it appeared that he recognized you." Claudia informed me.

"You're telling me he cheated an artifact?" I incredulously asked her.

She took a deep breath, "I don't know how, HG didn't even manage that. Though, if she wasn't trying then," she shrugged, "I don't know, but you're safe now."

I nodded, "And so are you."

Claudia rolled her eyes, "Yeah, me to. Now you need sleep, come on."

I rolled my eyes back at her and pulled pajamas out of my drawer, heading to the bathroom to change. I came out and walked back to my room in the perfect time to hear Claudia say, "Dad, if you're still here. You're the world's biggest jackass."

Dad was still there.

I walked into the room and Claudia started acting all motherly, tucking me in like I was five, "Okay, Claud? I'm not a baby." I tried to stop her.

She laughed, "You're my baby sister, though."

I half pouted and let her finish her babying. Claudia eventually finished and left the room, shutting off the light. I stared into the darkness for a few minutes before turning on my lamp. I watched the ceiling for a few minutes before I noticed Mom, standing in the corner of my room. She had a hard look on her face and I felt half-inclined to just turn onto my side and ignore her.

"Don't even think about it." She sternly told me.

I shrugged, "What are you going to do? Ground me?"

Mom pinched the bridge of her nose, "If I had a way to tell Artie you were grounded, yes."

I smirked, "I'm your only connection."

"You were extremely rude to your father," She explained.

I turned my head to the side, "Was I wrong though? Look me in the eyes and tell me that dad dying didn't change my fate. If that's true and you're saying he would have had me committed then-"

"Don't even think that," Mom reprimanded.

"You told me I was wrong, that's a logical conclusion," I retorted.

"Your behavior was wrong, what you said was wrong. You aren't the only one upset about what happened. You think I wanted you to grow up how you did?"

"You weren't there, how should I know?"

Mom sat on my bed and ran her fingers through my hair, or tried, "No parent wants their child to go through that."

"Doesn't mean it didn't happen," I muttered. A knock on the door interrupted us, "Come in."

The door opened to reveal Myka, "Hey, you okay?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly, thankful for the ability and reason to ignore the ghost in the room.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" She asked, coming in and shutting the door behind her.

"No," I told her shaking my head, "The tests will be easy, I just…I don't know."

Myka came over and sat on my bed, "You've had a lot thrown at you recently, give yourself time."

"I hated being in that place, but I didn't have to think about anything," I said quietly, playing with my blankets.

"Sweetie, that type of thinking isn't going to help you."

I stared at the bed, "I know."

"How long's it been since you ran away and found Claud?" She asked.

I thought back, "It was May of last year, after my fourteenth birthday."

Myka smiled, "You've come so far in nine months, it'll be okay."

I smiled back, looking over towards my bookshelf, "Myka? Will you read me a story?" I asked her timidly.

"Of course, what story do you want?" Myka answered to my relief, standing up and walking to my bookshelf.

I bit my lip; "I know I have The Bell Jar over there."

She glanced over to me, "I'm not sure that's a good idea, how about," She looked over the titled spines, "Bridge to Terabithia?" She pulled from the more childish side of my bookshelf.

I shrugged, "I haven't read that since I was a kid."

"You are a kid," She said coming back, sitting on the edge of my bed once again. I fell asleep to the sounds of Myka's voice, "Ba-room, ba-room, ba-room, baripity, baripity, baripity, baripity. Good. His dad had the pickup going. He could get up now. Jess slid out of bed and into his overalls."


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry this is so short, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. I am the mere editor and poster of this work, so I have to wait just as long as you until the author sends me her work. Enjoy and don't be afraid to send a review. We like reviews :)**

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><p>"Crissi, darling, it's time to wake up," H.G called.<p>

I rolled over to face her. "Where's Claudia?"

"Claudia and Steven got a ping, I'm afraid," H.G answered. "However, it's six o'clock and Arthur will be taking you to school."

I slowly sat up and glanced around my room. Going without Claudia with me to at least drop me off scared me, on top of only Artie taking me to school. H.G left to let me get dressed once she was sure I wouldn't return to my bed. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a shirt that was long lace sleeved and the torso had cuts on the sides and a few in back, black bra, and I pulled out my holey skinny jeans. I then slipped on my DCs and quickly straightened my hair and did my makeup before making my way downstairs. Leena had made scrambled eggs and bacon. I sat down at the table, eating quietly.

"You okay?" Leena asked, placing a glass of apple juice in front of me.

I looked up at her. "Nervous."

Leena looked confused. "You were so sure of yourself yesterday."

I shook my head. "The tests will be easy. It's just," I rolled my eyes. "Claudia's not here."

Leena gave me a soft smile. "I'm sure H.G or Myka would come too, if you would like. They're not Claudia, but it wouldn't be just you and Artie."

"You think?" I asked her, staring at my plate.

I heard her light laughter. "Of course, but you'll have to go ask them now. Artie will be here soon."

I stood up and headed to the small library where Myka and H.G spent a lot of their time. H.G was sitting on the chair and Myka was sprawled out on the couch, discussing, from what I could hear, Oscar Wilde and H.G didn't seem too pleased with the current argument.

"Hey Crissi, everything okay?" Myka asked, noticing my presence by the door.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm just nervous now. Claude's not here." I walked in and sat on the other end of the couch from Myka.

"Don't worry, Artie's taking you," Myka said, trying to sound encouraging.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "That's supposed to be comforting?"

Myka and H.G shared a look before placing their books down. "We'll go grab our coats," Myka complied. I watched as the two made their way up the stairs.

"Where did Steve and Claudia go?" I inquired when Myka and H.G returned.

"They didn't leave the state, the artifacts at a museum and it's closed today. It shouldn't take them long," Myka informed me.

I nodded. "Good. Steve said we could go clean out my dorm after I was done."

Myka smiled. "They'll be back, don't worry."

Just then we heard the door open. "Crissi, ready to go?" Artie's voice rang through the B&B. I grabbed my bag and walked into the foyer with H.G and Myka following.

"What are you two doing?" Artie scowled.

"Coming with you and Crissi," H.G stated.

Artie grumbled. "No, there's inventory to do at the Warehouse, that's where you two are going."

"Artie, Crissi wants more than one person there, especially since you sent Claudia out. Pete can do inventory," Myka retorted.

Artie scoffed. "Pete. Alone. In the Warehouse. No."

"Artie, Pete and I will do the inventory," Leena interrupted. "There's a few diagnostics I need to run. Don't worry. But Crissi's going to be late if you don't leave."

Artie grumbled again before turning around and heading to the car. H.G, Myka, and I followed him out and Leena called a, "good luck" as we left.

Artie muttered the whole way to the school, finally stopping when Myka glared at him. We walked into the school and into the main office.

The principal was waiting for me. "Good morning, Miss Donovan. I trust that you're ready for your placement tests?" I nodded slightly in response; unfamiliar authority figures freaked me out. "You'll be taking them in the library. Jack's going to take you there."

A tall, older guy stood up from one of the chairs. "Hi, I'm Jack."

I bit back my comment, replacing it with a nod and saying, "Lead the way."

I followed him down the hall quietly, until he broke the silence. "So, I've heard quite a few stories about you. What's the deal?"

I glanced up at him. "Parents died when I was little. I lived with my brother, we were in Switzerland for a few years and now I'm living with my sister."

"You skipped past your parents dying pretty fast," Jack mentioned.

I scoffed. "I'm sorry, were you looking for gory details? It's non of your business and I was five."

"Whoa, calm down." He put his hands up defensively. "I'm just trying to get the truth before the rumors."

"Rumors?"

Jack nodded. "They're bound to start flying soon." He opened the door. "Small towns mean anything new and the town flips." I eyed him carefully as he introduced my to the librarian; she pulled out the tests and I went to a table and sat down, pulling a pencil and my calculator out of my bag.

"Well, good luck," Jack said before he headed out of the library.

I took a moment to relax. Myka, H.G, and Artie weren't going anywhere and Claudia shouldn't have too hard of a snag, hopefully. Then, we could go to my dorm and get my stuff, then, I'm free to start the next chapter of my life. After calming myself down, I flipped open the test and began. It wasn't difficult and I took my time checking each answer. I finished roughly two and a half hours later; the librarian took the test, telling me they'd call with the results after they were graded. I walked back down to the office to H.G there alone.

"How'd it go?" she asked, walking over to me.

I shrugged. "Fine, I guess. Where are Artie and Myka?"

H.G placed an arm around my shoulder, leading me out of the office. "Something came up unfortunately."

I nodded sadly, but at least H.G stayed for me. "Do you think Steve and Claudia are back yet?"

"I'm not sure, but if they are, everyone will be at the Warehouse." H.G led me to the car.

I nodded. "So when you say something came up, you mean Pete touched something."

"That was my understanding from the Farnsworth," H.G stated as we got into the car. "Would you like to get some lunch before going to the Warehouse?"

I took a few seconds to think before smiling. "Yes please."

"Alright," H.G smiled back. "To the diner."

H.G pulled into the Univille Diner and the two of us went and had a good lunch together. We walked in and sat down, H.G ordered tea, naturally, and I ordered lemonade, and whatever we wanted to eat. It felt nice, almost like what I could only imagine as a mother and daughter having lunch together. Maybe Artie had been right; after all, H.G kind of was like my mom.

"How are you feeling about starting school?" H.G inquired.

I stirred the straw in my drink. "I don't know. I'm not sure how exactly I'm going to fit in there. I've seen movies and stuff but I've never had to deal with cliques and Univille seems rather clique-ish."

"I never did quite fit in among my peers either. Don't let them get to you. Honestly, you don't need anyone that talks behind your back or thinks they can control you by extending false friendship," H.G advised.

I thought about it for a second, she was right. Honestly, I didn't need friends if things got to be too dramatic for me. I never really had friends, why did I have to have them now? In theory, friends seemed nice, but I also wouldn't just be able to have friends over. I'm sure Mrs. Frederic would have something to say about that.

"What was it like when you were young, H.G?" I asked her quietly.

I watched her shoulders tighten and thought for a moment that she wouldn't tell me, but then she relaxed. "When I was young, before I became pregnant with Christina, I had few friends: one or two at the most. My need to understand and learn how things worked wasn't widely accepted among the girls my age; they constantly scolded me for what they called 'looking for trouble'. When I became pregnant with Christina, my scandalous behavior had become common knowledge, even though I knew whom her father was, he claimed I couldn't possibly know. So I raised her myself. Charles wasn't much help for anything but spoiling her with the money he got from my stories. When I became a Warehouse agent, I had made arrangements for Christina. She stayed with cousins every summer, until that fateful year." I watched as H.G paused briefly. "It's in the past now." Her hand had reached up to her locket. "I no longer feel anger in her death."

I noticed the turn in the conversation, but I couldn't stop myself from asking, "How do you do it?"

H.G tilted her head. "Do what, darling?"

I stared at the table, "Stop being angry."

She gave a knowing head movement. "It can take a great deal of time, and it is not easy in any sense. Something you have to remind yourself of is that you are not alone anymore Crissi. You have all of us and any one of us is willing to listen to anything, anytime. You don't have to keep it in now."

"I'm just so tired of always feeling angry. It never goes away," I told her. I felt so helpless all the time. I never had to deal with the real world until now.

H.G nodded. "Darling, you can't let your anger control your life. It will destroy you. Tragedy happens, and yes it is very difficult, but you're too young to have so much anger inside." She seemed really worried about it. "Promise me that you'll not hold it in when it seems unbearable. We'll find a way to help you, okay?"

I nodded. "Okay."

The conversation ended, perfect timing as our food arrived. H.G and I ate our lunch, talking here and there about random things. Eventually, when we finished, we headed to the Warehouse. Walking through the umbilicus, the sight H.G and I saw when the door to Artie's office opened was priceless. Pete and Artie were completely covered in purple goo and somehow Myka was missing a shoe. The three of them just looked like a complete mess.

"What happened?" H.G asked trying not to laugh. I started laughing, not bothering to hide it. Artie was glaring at Pete mumbling about touching things. He stalked off to his room muttering about taking a shower before he started to see things.

"Pete decided it would be a good idea to go read the Warehouse comic books. Without gloves," Myka told us.

Pete pointed at her. "Hey, you can touch the books without anything happening!"

"No, no, not all of them, Pete. And if you would read the manual you would know which comic books you can touch!" Myka yelled at him.

"You are never going to let that go, are you?" Pete argued.

"No, Pete, I'm not. Your lack of reading it causes problems, all the time," Myka threw back.

H.G walked over to Myka. "Pete, you need to go to Leena's and wash up. Myka, we'll go clean up downstairs."

Pete sighed and left, doing as he was told. H.G led Myka downstairs to the Warehouse floor.


	10. Chapter 10

Shit. I was supposed to post this months ago. Shit. Sorry. Here's the next chapter. Sorry to my friend, the real author!

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><p>I stayed up in Artie's office and thought about what HG had told me. Claudia and Steve came through the door after awhile.<p>

"Where is everyone?" Claudia asked, glancing at the empty office.

"Pete touches a comic book, I don't know what happened but Pete's back at Leena's showering, Artie's taking a shower here and HG and Myka are downstairs, I assume cleaning purple goo off the floor," I told them, following them out to the landing.

Purple goo trails were evident from Artie and Pete walking back.

"Oh boy. I'm assuming Artie is not happy," Claudia commented.

I shook my head. "Nope. He seemed pretty livid, grumbling and all."

"Well, it's good that we won't be here for that lecture," Jinksy mentioned, Claudia looked at him confused. "I told Crissi we'd go clear out her dorm, and after this I don't think Pete's getting the okay to go too."

Claudia laughed and we walked back to the office to see Artie there with wet hair. "Oh, good. You're back. Where is it?" Claudia pointed to the static bag on his desk. "Good, I'll have Leena shelve it."

"Artie?" Claudia started. "Steve and I are going to go clear out Crissi's dorm, okay?"

Artie glanced between the three of us before nodding. "Take the SUV. How'd it go today, Crissi?"

I shrugged. "Fine, I suppose. The kid that walked with me was kind of annoying. They'll call you about my classes later they said," I told him as I followed Claudia and Jinksy out of the warehouse.

I climbed into the back if the SUV and got settled for the drive to the university. It wasn't too far away, at least by warehouse standards. "So what were you guys snagging earlier?" I asked as we drove through Univille.

Claudia glanced back at me. "It was nothing. Honestly, Artie could have sent Myka and Pete. I wanted to go to the school with you."

"You didn't miss anything, it's okay. Other than some kid annoying the shit out of me," I told her. She felt guilty, and as much as I was upset she wasn't there, I didn't have to add to it.

Claudia smirked. "What was he doing?"

I shrugged. "He said he wanted the truth about me before the rumors flew."

"So, my dear, little sister, what is your story?" Claudia mocked.

"Nothing special. Mom and Dad died when I was little and I lived with Josh in Europe until now. I've decided to wait until rumors fly and confirm the craziest things as I go. The more insane they think it is, the more mysterious it is and then no one knows what to believe. They'll leave me alone," I told her.

Claudia shook her head. "And if it bothers you later, we'll send you to Joshua."

I smiled and nodded. Jinksy continued to drive to the university. "Or we could send you to Eureka. I'm sure Doug would take care of you."

"Super-secret-science-ville? Yeah, no thanks," I answered, sure the town was cool but the constant almost blowing up would bug the crap out of me. "Let's see how regular high school goes for a while."

"Probably a good idea," Jinksy agreed. "You need consistency."

I rolled my eyes at him. After a little longer, we pulled into the parking lot of my dorm. I led them to my room and sighed. My roommate was there.

"I haven't seen you in days, where have you been?" Shelby asked.

I sighed. "I'm moving out, dropping out, moving home."

"College too tough?" she asked, half serious, half mocking.

"No!" I glared. "I just don't want to be here anymore."

"Okay enough." Jinksy stopped Shelby before she could make another comment. "Crissi, do you have bags and stuff?"

I nodded and pulled out my bags and boxes. I opened the dresser drawers and took each pile and placed them in a duffle. Claudia was taking the sheets off my bed and Jinksy was cleaning out my desk. My side of the room was pretty bare. Claudia and I took a trip down to the SUV; when we came back, Sam and Tyler were in my room, "talking" with Jinksy.

"Who are these guys?" Claudia asked me.

"Crissi, these guys are saying they're your friends. You've never mentioned anyone before," Jinksy stated.

I rolled my eyes. "They're not friends. They begged me to tutor them for calculus. They're watching out for their grades, and the ones who hacked my file." I glanced at the two boys. "They're kind of sensitive about people hurting me. You might want to get out because you weren't invited in."

"We're just seeing what was going on, we saw you taking stuff out of your room," Sam said.

"That's not any of your business, you don't care, you just want the freak to help you pass a class," I replied back.

Jinksy looked at me. "You're not a freak, Crissi. Don't call yourself that. Did you ever call her that?" He turned to glare at the boys.

"No, we would never do that," Tyler answered quickly.

Claudia and I watched Steve take two very deep breaths trying to calm himself down before quickly stepping back. Clearly it wasn't working. "I'm going to take this down."

Claudia stepped closer to the guys. "I'll going to take that to mean you were lying. Which means you called my little sister a freak."

I pulled on Claudia's hand. "Claudia, forget it. They're idiots, not worth it."

"They called you a freak!"

"Never to her face though!" Sam defended, or attempted to.

"Dude!" Tyler yelled. "That's not helping."

Claudia glared at them. "So, not only were you calling her a freak, but you did it behind her back where she couldn't defend herself or correct you."

Shelby grabbed her purse. "I'm out. It was fun, sort of, while it lasted, Crissi. Don't kill the boys." She left the room.

"Claudia, just drop it. We need to finish packing. Pete wanted to come before, he's probably on his way with Mykes and HG," I told her.

Apparently that was the wrong attempt at motivation because Claudia smirked and said, "Good, then we'll wait for them. Between Pete, HG, and Myka, I'm sure they'll learn some respect."

I groaned. "Claudia!"

She pulled out her cell phone and I could hear Pete and Myka's voices on the other line. That meant that HG and Myka finished cleaning up Pete's mess.

"Yeah, the SUV is getting pretty packed," Claudia explained as her reasoning for them to come. "And some of her furniture is heavy now that it's put together."

"We're already halfway there," Pete said, over the line.

I looked over at the boys. "You might want to get out of here and I don't mean just going back to your room."

Claudia scoffed. "Nuhuh, I don't think so. Sit." She pointed to the now sheetless bed. Looking down at me she said, "They'll be here in twenty minutes, ten with the way Pete drives."

Jinksy walked back in, still angry. I sat down in my chair and put my face in my hands. Today wasn't going to end well. Jinksy and Claudia moved around the room packing more of my stuff. Sam and Tyler were talking quietly and I rolled my eyes.

"Oh, and we need Pete to get your desk out of here." Claudia smiled. "Forgot about that."

"Or we could just leave it and Shelby could toss it when she leaves," I suggested. "I already have a desk at home."

"You really like this one, we can get rid of the one at home," Jinksy said. He remembered about the one at Leena's.

I sighed. "Fine, since we're just waiting." I pulled my iPod out and plugged my speakers in. Black Veil Brides came through the speakers.

The boys looked at the speakers for a minute. "You listen to this stuff?"

"What? You have a problem with that?" I asked them.

Tyler shook his head. "We had you pegged more for, well, what every teenage girl and half the college campus listens to."

"And what are they listening to?" I glared at them.

"Justin Bieber, One Direction, stuff like that," Sam answered.

Claudia started laughing and I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"Crissi pretty much listens to anything that doesn't suck," Claudia told them.

I rolled my eyes and waited for shit to hit the fan. It would when everyone got here. They all got here way too soon for my liking, but I had to admit I missed them. I miss them all the time. I went over and hugged HG and Myka.

"Please put them on a leash," I asked Myka.

Myka laughed. "I'll try."

I kept my mouth shut and watched the chance of a showdown.

"What's going on?" Pete asked.

Jinksy opened his mouth. "These two conned Crissi into helping them in calculus and called her a freak."

"I can't be an eye witness to this," I told them. I grabbed a small load of stuff when I noticed the look on Pete's face. HG looked pretty pissed off as well. I wanted to watch, but I couldn't. I felt that they were overreacting just a little bit. I had no idea what they were going to do to them. If I wasn't in the room, I couldn't be blamed for it.

As I was packing the car, something was put over my head and I was immersed in darkness. Kicking and screaming, I was carried and put down in what I think was another car.


End file.
